The Pink Gem
by AllOtaku92
Summary: When Trent's sister Erica stay with Him and Anton, no one would have guessed she has a pink dino gem or how dangerous she can be*  this won't happen till later
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**The Pink Dino Gem**

Chapter One

"It's been a long day," said Trent as he walks in the front door to his house. "Dad going to be furious at me for coming home late again and I don't need another lecture on why I need to quit the Cyber Café." Trent stops short of his fathers' study, Trent heard his father Anton Mercer, talking on the phone with someone. "Oh good," murmured Trent maybe I can sneak by without him noticing. As Trent tries to sneak passed the doorway, he hears a familiar voice, "Can you hold on a second, thanks, Trent, your home late again," said Anton pulling the phone away from himself. "Can you hold up a second while I finish this conversation?" Trent stops short, "Yeah no problem dad," said Trent. Anton pulls himself back into the phone, "So as we were saying…right ok…no problem…don't worry Trent won't mind…alright then, talk to you later goodbye."

Anton hung up the phone. "So Trent do you know who I was speaking to?" Trent shrugged, "Someone you bought land from so that you can make me the manager of some store?" Trent said sarcastically, remembering the time Anton brought the Cyber Café so Trent could run it. "No," said Anton coldly. "That was Angela Russo, do you remember her, it must be sometime since you last seen her." Trent tried to remember; the name did sound familiar, but shook his head. As Anton continued, "Angela works as a Paleontologist, she worked with your parents on several digs before they died. Anyhow remember how your sister Erica, was staying with Angela and her husband because Erica wanted to be a Paleontologist too. Well, you and your sister are in your senior year of high school and Erica wants to go to the Smithfield University next year but one of the requirements for the college is that Erica would need to stay in one school in this country for an entire year. Now Angela and her husband were called to a dig in Kenya, so they were wondering if we could take in Erica for the year. I said we would be happy to take her."

"So…," said Trent. "What so special about Smithfield that Erica needs to stay with us for the year?" Anton looks at Trent sternly. "That is an odd response to say about your sister, but then again you haven't seen her in years. Smithfield is the top paleontology school in the country, so with it comes some strings. Do you not want us to take Erica?" Trent shook his head, "Its' not like that, it's just… I don't know how much she's changed." Anton got up from his desk and walked towards Trent and put his hand on Trent' shoulder, "I don't know how this arrangement will work out either, but Erica is your sister and I think you two should get together." As Anton walked out of the study, "By the way, Erica will be staying in the guest room. I will be…working later so can you start cleaning out the guest room, just put everything into boxes and put it in the garage alright?" As Anton walked out of the study, Trent murmured, "No problem, dad."

Later that evening, as Trent was putting away all of Anton's paleontology stuff into cardboard boxes, Trent came across a picture. In the picture were three people: Anton, Trent' birth mother, and a girl about twelve years old holding a pink rock in her hand. "Erica…." said Trent to himself. "Why don't I remember this picture being taken?" Trent stopped packing and decided to show Anton the picture. As Trent entered his fathers' study, the room was empty. "Right, dad did say he was working later," said Trent as he left the room. Trent was walking back upstairs when he heard a sound coming from his fathers' study. Trent quietly walked back downstairs to see Anton walking out of a green light. _That light_, thought Trent_, was the same light I went into when I teleported to the Cyber Café. _Trent didn't enter the study until Trent saw Anton sit down at his desk.

"Hey dad," said Trent walking in. "Are you busy now?" Anton was wiping away some sweat with a handkerchief, "Trent, I'll be up to join you in a few minutes, I just got back from work and I'm a bit tired." "That fine," said Trent. "I have a question for you actually..." as Trent put the photo on Anton' desk. "It's just I don't remember that picture being taken and…" Anton cut Trent off, "It was a picture taken of you and Erica birthday. Your parents never fought a lot, but this was one of the few things they did fight about. You father wanted to take the day off from the dig and take you and Erica out, your mother was claiming that we were close to finding a fossil and we should keep working. So your dad took you out to party while your mom and your sister worked with me and the rest of the crew on the dig. Anyhow, as the day progress Erica was getting shot tempered that we weren't finding anything, and Erica kicked the wall of the cave we were investigating. Anyhow, that part of the wall collapsed and a fossil was hidden behind the rubble along with that pink rock Erica's holding in the picture. We didn't think the rock had any value so your mom gave it to Erica as a present and we took a picture to commemorate." Trent nodded his head, "Did you find out what was the fossil, Erica "discovered"?" Anton laughed, "It was a Sarcosuchus, but it wasn't "discovered", that was the 10th one found at the time." "Oh ok," said Trent. "I'm going to stop cleaning for now, I'll continue tomorrow." A Trent turned around; Trent noticed Anton was staring hard at the picture. Anton looked up for a second, "Yea no problem, I'll try and join you tomorrow, alright?" Trent nodded and left the room. Anton was staring at the picture long after Trent left. "I'm imagining things but that rock looks like…it can't be…I've been working with Mesogog for too long," Mercer said as he put the picture in his drawer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**The Pink Dino Gem**

Chapter Two

**Note: Two weeks later, since that time Tent has found the white dino gem and continues to fight against the rangers and Mesogogs' team. Erica finally arrives at Reefside where Anton picks her up. **

"So, how was your trip?" asked Anton. "No complaints, just not used to flying 10,000 feet in the air for a few hours," said Erica. Erica was about 5 foot nothing, light skin and was carrying all her stuff in a backpack. "Well..." said Anton, "How did you manage to travel all over the world for these digs?" "Easy," said Erica. "We took a boat." Erica pushes the door open and leaves the airport with Anton behind her. "So, where is your car parked?" Anton points behind her. "Right over there," said Anton as he points to a limo. Erica was star stuck for a few seconds. "You see…" said Anton. "That what you ride in when you're a _famous_ paleontologist, are you coming?" Erica snapped back to reality and followed Anton to the limo, "Oh boy do I have long way to go." Erica said as she entered the limo.

"Erica I really need to apologize for Trent not being here to pick you up, but he had some plans today, today Saturday so he's probably at work," said Anton. "It no problem," said Erica. "If this situation had been reversed, I would have been on a dig. You might have had to drag me out of the site for me to see Trent."

Meanwhile… in the downtown area.

"Dino Stegozord Formation," said the white ranger as he jumped into his megazord. "Oh, boy," said the red ranger. "We need dinozord power now." As the red, yellow, blue rangers formed the dinozord, Elsa and Zeltrax were watching the fight from their lair. "Why don't we send a monster?" suggested Zeltrax. "So _both those teams_ can destroy it. I don't think so," said Elsa. "We wait, when the power rangers weaken the white ranger, we swoop in and capture him." "That's a good plan," murmured Zeltrax. "Of course it's a good plan, I came up with it," said Elsa as they continued to watch the screen.

Back to Erica and Anton, which by this time the limo was on a highway in the downtown area.

"Ummmm, Anton….." said Erica shaking. "Let me guess," said Anton, "two big zords are destroying the downtown area." "Umm….yeah…that would be it…umm….does that happen often?" asked Erica. "Happens more often than earthquakes," responded Anton. "I hope it doesn't go on for too long, I need to take you shopping." "There are two big….things destroying the downtown area and you're worried about taking me shopping?" said Erica. Anton looked at Erica sternly, "That is something you will get used to, it will take some time. Now since you only brought a backpack with you I assume you didn't bring a lot of clothes with you." "Well, I didn't need to change my clothes a lot, I was always on a dig, and all my clothes were going to end up dirty anyway, so what was the point of changing…" "Well…" said Anton. "You're not on a dig, are you? Since you are going to school here, you going to have to learn to change your clothes daily, understood." "No prob," said Erica.

Later that day…..

Trent came home and sat down in the hallway out of breath. "What am I going to do about this?" said Trent as he was moving his dinozord morpher. Just then Trent heard the television set come on from the living room. "That's weird….Dad never watches television." As Trent was peaking inside the living room, he saw a girl sitting on the couch watching television. _It can't be…her._ "Erica…" Trent said as he walked in. Erica surprised, jumped off the couch, and faced Trent. "Oh….hi" said Erica. "Long time, on see, umm…how was work?" asked Erica. "Wait…what?" said Trent. "Sorry," said Erica. "Anton said you couldn't pick me today because you were at work." Trent was organizing his thoughts when finally he said, "You came today…" "Yea," said Erica. "Are you okay, you seem a bit pale," asked Erica. Trent took a deep breath. "First off, I'm fine, second, welcome to Reefside, third, you can continue watching TV, I'm going to head up, see ya," said Trent as turn around to go upstairs. "Goodnight, said Erica. When Trent left Erica's view, she let out a deep sigh. "That was horrible; I really should've prepared something to say…but what do you say to the brother you haven't seen in years?" Trent walked into his room and laid on his bed, holding up his morpher. "Great…this thing isn't only ruin my life, but ruining my sister's life, great."

On Mesogogs' island lair…

"My lord, we deeply apologize for not acting when the white ranger appeared," said Elsa desperately as she and Zeltrax was being punished by Mesogog' psionic powers. "You fools…"said Mesogog, "You had the perfect opportunity to strike the white ranger and you didn't do a thing!" Mesogog stopped his punishment and Elsa and Zeltrax collapsed to the floor. "You two have better not fail me again, the next time the white ranger appears, I want him here in chains, understood?" "Yes my lord," said Zeltrax. "Good, now get out of my sight!" said Mesogog. After both Elsa and Zeltrax left, Mesogog contemplated to himself. "How did you resist so much, Mercer? You held out all day, how….."

End of Chapter 2

Author Note: Sorry to all the fans…..I been back at school and the work been piling up….I try to do this story on weekends. I'll try to get Ch.3 up soon. If you have any questions, send me an email, I'll try to answer quickly. Thank for your support.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Dino Gem**

**Chapter Three**

The following Monday…..

Anton was busy working on some figures before dropping Erica off at school. "All right, put these papers and I'll get back to them after dropping off Erica." Anton opened his desk drawer and saw the photo Trent showed him a few weeks ago. Anton picked up the photo and stared at the pink rock Erica had in her hand. "I wonder….," said Anton. "Yo, Anton," said Erica as she entered Anton's study. "Have you seen Trent? I was wondering if we could go to school together." Anton looked away from the photo and looked at Erica, "Sorry," Anton said. "Trent likes to get to school early; I'm going to take you to school today being your first day and all, okay?" "That depends," said Erica. "Are we taking a limo?" "You really don't like it, huh?" said Anton. "Can we drive to school in something more modest? Please," said Erica. "Okay, okay, let's just go before you're late," said Anton.

As Anton was driving he was deciding on whether he should mention the rock to Erica. _Maybe she doesn't have it anymore, it just looked like a dinogem, but it could've been a Spinel or a Topaz. _"Umm, Erica," said Anton. "I want to ask you a question. Do you remember on your twelfth birthday you found a pink rock and a fossil, when you kicked the wall down?" "You mean the wall I kicked down during that little earthquake, yeah," said Erica. "What about it?" Anton took a deep breath; _it was earthquakes that unearth the fossil, okay_. "Do you still have that pink rock?" Anton asked. "Yeah," said Erica. "I still have it." Erica dug through one of her pants pocket and pulled out a pink dinogem. When Anton saw the dinogem he stopped the car short. Erica jerked forward, but her seatbelt held her back. "Geez Anton, what was that for?" Anton was staring at the dinogem for at least a minute. _It's not a Topaz. It's not a Topaz. It is not a Topaz._ "Anton, what wrong?" screamed Erica. Anton finally composed himself. "I'm sorry; it's just that, your rock, it brought back some memories." Erica frowned, "I know, that's why I never had the heart to get rid of it." "I'm sorry," said Anton. "Can we continue this conversation later, please?" "Sure" said Erica.

When Anton pulled the car up to the school, Principal Randall was waiting for them. "Erica, this is Principal Randall," said Anton. "She is going to show you around the school, okay." Erica got out the car, "It's a pleasure," said Erica as she extended her hand. "Let's go, I have a lot to tell you before you get to class," said Randall as she turned to walk away. Erica returned her hand and followed Randall to the school. As Erica and Randall walked away, Anton collapsed back to his seat. _How the hell did this happen? What were the chances are getting someone like her? Okay relax, I'll just have a long, long talk with Erica after school, and pray He doesn't go after her._ Anton composed himself and drove off.

As Erica was walking behind Randall, Randall was looking through a file. "Okay," said Randall pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Erica, "You may be a little late but I explained the story to your teacher and they will bring you up to speed. Do you have any questions so far?" Erica was skimming through the paper, it was her schedule for the term, "Just one, I seem to have a lot of honor classes. The only classes that aren't honor are Lunch and Paleontology." "Well first off, the Paleontology teacher is new, unfit for honors, maybe next term we can put him in charge an honors class you understand of course," explained Randall. "Principal Randall," said Erica. "What I meant was that being in my senior year and being in a new school, I thought…." "You thought I was going to let a 98 GPA student slide by her senior year, is that it?" said Randall turning around to face Erica. "Well, let me tell you something, your going to graduate not only the valedictorian of this school, but in this state, and I have put you in the hardest classes this school has to offer to do it, I will!" Do I make myself clear?" Erica nodded her head. "Good," said Randall. "Your locker is up ahead." As Erica and Randall reached the lockers, there were three students, two boys, one girl, huddled up next to the lockers. "Don't you have somewhere to be right now?" said Randall. One of the boys replied, "Didn't Dr. O wanted to show us something?" "Oh right," the girl replied. The three students walked down the hall away from Erica and Randall. Randall started scanning the lockers, "102 is your, here is a lock and here is your combination. Your next class starts in 10 minutes, I recommend putting your stuff away fast and getting to class."

As Randall was talking to the new student Connor, Ethan, and Kira were watching from afar. "Way to roll out the welcome wagon, Randall," said Conner. "After Randall done traumatizing the new girl, we should we introduce ourselves," said Ethan. "Good idea," said Kira. After Randall was done talking, Randall walked away from the new girl. Conner, Ethan, and Kira all walked up to the new girl as she was putting her stuff in her locker. "Hi," said Conner. "So by the Randall was acting, I take it you're new." The girl took out a notebook and a pen and closed her locker. "Yeah, I'm Erica," she said. "Awesome," said Conner. "I'm Conner, this is Ethan, and that's Kira, since we neighbors and all, we can help if you need something." "Thanks Conner," said Erica. "Can you show me where room 1002 is I have Paleontology there with Dr. Oliver?" "No sweat," said Ethan. "We got class there too, we take you there together." "Thanks Ethan," said Erica.

Down the hall, Devin was organizing his locker when a friend of his ran up to him. "Oh, hey Steven, what's up," said Devin. Steven was about Devin's height with short brown hair, blue eyes and glasses. "Devin I need to ask you a favor, there this new girl, you see, and Randall walking her around school and now the new girl is talking with some friends of yours, and can you get me her name?" rambled Steven. "Say man," said Devin. "Slow down, you want me to find out some news girls name, and she is hanging with some friends of mine, right? So which friends, cause I really just have Cassidy." "Umm," said Steven. "The soccer player, the computer guy, and the singer." "Oh you mean Conner, Ethan, and Kira," said Devin. "Yeah those three," said Steven. "No sweat man. I'll have her name by the end of the day. C'mon, let's get to science," said Devin. "Thanks man, you're a life saver."

In Paleontology Class….

"Cassidy Cornel"

"Here"

"Devin Del Valle"

"Here"

"Steven Eide"

"Here"

"Erica Fernandez"

"Here"

Dr. Oliver looked over the roster. "Erica, this is your first day, right?" said Dr.O.

"Yes it is," replied Erica. "Fernandez…are you related to Trent?" asked Dr.O. Erica whispered to Conner, "How big is this school?" "Don't worry," said Conner, "there's only one Trent." "Trent is my brother, why?" "Well," Dr.O started, "Trent doesn't appear to be here." Erica looked around the room, Trent wasn't in the class. "Did you try calling his name?" asked Erica. The class erupted into laughter. "Okay, man," whispered Devin to Steven. "Her name is Erica." "Thanks Dev," Said Steven. "What are you talking about?' asked Cassidy as she turned around to Devin and Steven. "Well you see Cass…" began Devin. "Oh never mind," said Cassidy as she turned back around. "All right class, calm down," said Dr.O. So Erica, we can see Trent isn't but you want me to call out his name anyway?" "Well yeah," said Erica "or else we really won't know if Trent here or not, we just speculating." "Okay, fine," said Dr.O.

"Trent Fernandez?"

"Here" said Trent as he walked into the room. "See," said Erica. "Trent's not absent, he's just late." Trent took his seat in the back of the room. "Hey, Trent, catch," said Erica as she threw a carton of orange juice at him. Trent caught the orange juice. "If that doesn't give you some color by lunch, I'll give you an orange transfusion. "Got it," said Trent. "Can we get back to class please," said Dr.O.

During the middle of Dr.O lecture on the Brachiosaurus, Dr.O notice Erica seemed bored, she was laying her head down on her desk, with the lecture. "Erica," said Dr.O pointing to a picture of a fossil, "Can you identify this fossil for the class." Without thinking Erica replied, "Brachiosaurus, this fossil was discovered in 1995 by the Harrisons in New Mexico. It took them about 10-20 years because part of issue as that part of the dinosaur was on private property and the Harrisons was involved in a legal battle over ownership and such, but they won eventually and I think it should be New Mexico Natural History Museum." The whole class stared at Erica. "What?' said Erica. "Erica," said Dr. O., "How did you correctly identify the entire history of this fossil by just its picture?" "Oh that," said Erica. "I'm studying to be a paleontologist, I've just recently moved in with Trent and his father after studying under another paleontologist." "Smithfield," said Dr.O. "Yeah," said Erica. "They still haven't gotten rid of that stupid requirement," murmured Dr.O. "Okay, let's make a deal, after class you circle on a world map, everywhere you've been and I'll try to teach some fossils that maybe you have never heard of, just try to pretend to be interested, even if you know everything I'm talking about, okay?" "I'll try," said Erica.

After school, Erica was leaving the building when she saw Trent staring at Conner, Ethan, and Kira, but those three were far away from Trent. Erica ran up to Trent, but Trent tried walking away from Erica. "C'mon, I don't want a transfusion, said Trent. "You want to talk about it?" asked Erica. Trent looked at Erica. "I'm your twin sister Trent, I was trying to figure out all day what was bothering me and then it hit me, you're the problem, so tell me so we'll both feel better." Trent let out a sigh. "There this girl," said Trent. "Part of me likes her and I'm crazy about her, but part of me pushes her away. I don't want to push away from me, but if she finds out the real me, she may not want me." Erica took a second to think. "Laid down all your cards, tell her everything. Trent, the only girl you deserve is one that will understand what you're going though, no matter how bad it gets. The worst thing she can say is no, okay?" Trent nodded. "Okay, I'll try that. Thanks." Trent said as he ran off. "Hope you get her," said Erica. Erica started walking when she suddenly became dizzy and she fell on the grass. _Dammit, I thought helping Trent would've cured this. Why the hell am I still feeling so lousy?_ Erica took several breaths to regain her composure, but Erica notice a pink light coming out from her pocket. Erica pulled out her pink rock which was the source of the glowing._ Why is this thing glowing? It's never done that before. Is this why Anton acted weird in the car? What's the relationship between Reefside and this rock?_

End of Chapter 3

Author Note: This chapter is a bit longer than the others because I wanted to move the story along. Also I am not fossilizing Dr.O; I'm pretending that never happened.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Dino Gem**

**Chapter Four**

After school was over, Steven met up with Devin and Cassidy. "Hey guys," said Steven. "Hey Steven," said Devin. "So what's your plan of action for Erica?" asked Devin. Steven sighed, "Honestly man I have no idea." "Wait a minute," said Cassidy. "You're here asking Devin for _girl_ advice?" Both Devin and Steven looked at Cassidy. "Ummm….yeah" said Steven. Cassidy scoffed, "No offense Dev, but that like asking Devin for help with physics,"

"Cass, I got a 95 in physics last term," said Devin. "Dev, not now," said Cassidy. "Look Steven, why don't you try complimenting her, you know try flirting with her, telling her how beautiful she is, and so on." "I don't know Cassidy…."murmured Steven. "She doesn't seem like _that_ type of girl." "Oh, don't worry," said Cassidy. "Look there she is now." Cassidy, Devin, and Steven saw Erica lying down on the grass. "Well," said Cassidy, "go get her." Steven froze for a second, "Right, okay, let's do this," Steven said as he slowly walked up to Erica. "Wow," said Devin, thanks for the help Cass, I wasn't really sure how to help him" "Are you kidding," said Cassidy, "We have too much stuff to do today and we don't need him slowing us down, onward to the television studio." "Oh, right," said Devin as he followed Cassidy.

Erica was still fazed by the glowing rock, which she put back into her pocket. _Okay, its' just an ordinary rock…no it isn't…I've never seen a rock like that…it could be radioactive or something._ Erica scratched her head._ Ugggh….I'm a dino person, not a rock person. _Erica turned her head to see some guy walk to her. "Ummm hi baby, what's up," said the guy. "Excuse me," Erica said. "_I knew it," _thought Steven. "Just hi," the guy corrected himself. "Hi,' said Erica. _Maybe this rock attracts weird guys,_ thought Erica. "You don't remember me," said the guy. "Nope," said Erica. "I've been busy watching some guy today, so I don't have time watching other guys, badly flirting at that, today." Erica looked at the guy, he looked like he's about to cry. _There's another guy, it's only her first day and she's already found a guy,_ thought Steven. "No man," said Erica. "I wasn't clear." _Why am I making myself clear for this guy?_ "It's my brother, he….seemed sick today, and the whole twin power thing; I wanted to make sure he was okay." Steven calmed down. "Oh," said Steven.

"You know," said Erica. 'This is kinda a weird conversation to having between two people who don't know each other." "Ack….," blurted out. "Sorry….I remember you because we have Paleontology and Advance Art together, I'm sorry, but it's kinda hard to forget a girl who can remember the history of a dinosaur picture." Erica blushed. "I'm Erica," she said. "I'm Steven," he said. "So now we acquainted and all can we talk?" "About what," said Erica. "Well, why are you on the grass, lying down. After getting introduced to this school by Randall, most kids run home," said Steven. Erica sigh, _I don't think it's best to mention the glowing rock._ "I cramped up today," said Erica. "What?" said Steven, "you cramped…." "Ummm," said Erica, "I haven't practiced my workout since I came to Reefside, and now my mind is sending my body messages, you need to exercise, and all that." "Oh…okay," murmured Steven. "Do you know anywhere isolated I can do a couple of martial art forms without being watched?' asked Erica. Steven thought for a few seconds, "Ummm there's this construction site near Hayley's Cyberspace. You can practice there, right?" "A construction site, perfect," said Erica. "Wait how far away is this place?" "No problem," said Steven. "I got a car and I can take you, I was on my way to the Cyberspace anyway." "Thank you," said Erica as she got up and followed Steven to his car.

At Hayley's Cyberspace….

"I can't believe Trent went and quit on me," said Hayley as she was talking to Conner, Ethan, and Kira, while she was making smoothies. "Have you seen Trent?" said Conner. "Trent's been looking pale over the last couple of days." "Couldn't that be because of his sister?" said Ethan. "Didn't Erica say something about being with a paleontologist over the last few years, she's only here to get into some college," said Kira. "Smithfield only accepts 500 students a year, and the graduating class is about half that," said Hayley. "Dr. Oliver was one of the last students accepted for his year." "And you," said Conner. "Didn't you meet Dr.O in college?" "Smithfield was in the same town as my college," said Hayley. "I really wasn't that interested in dinosaurs until I met Tommy." Just then Trent walked in the door. "Speaking of Trent," said Hayley as she took a tray full of drinks away. Conner, Ethan, and Kira turned around to face him. "Hey guys," said Trent, he was still pale. "Hey man," said Ethan. "Hayley misses you." "Are you really going to keep bugging me about that," said Trent. "Kira, I was wondering if I can talk to you outside." "Yeah, sure," said Kira, "About what?" "Just please," said Trent. "It's personnel." "Alright, no problem, I'll see you guys later, ok?" said Kira. "No problem," said Conner, "Have fun." Trent and Kira left the Cyberspace, Trent kept looking around. "What's wrong?" said Kira. "I want to tell you something, but I don't want to tell you here," said Trent scanning the area until he saw a construction site a few blocks over. "C'mon," said Trent as he started walking towards the site.

When Trent and Kira made it to the construction site, Trent continued to scan the area. "Trent, what's going on, I'm sure whatever it is you want to tell me, a bunch of construction workers aren't going to care," said Kira. After Trent was done scanning, he looked at Kira. _Okay,_ Trent thought, _where do I begin?_ "Okay," said Trent. "I was talking to Erica today. And Erica suggested that I need to come clean with you about everything if this relationship was…going somewhere." "Trent," said Kira blushing. "It's just that, you've been different over the past few days, I'm not here to judge, whatever it is you can tell me. I just want to just make sure you're okay," said Kira. "I promise whatever happens, I won't run." Trent stared at the ground. "I'm…." Trent started when the White Dino Gem started acting up. "No," said Trent as he fell on his knees. _Not now…I was so close._ "Trent are you okay?" exclaimed Kira. "What's wrong, Trent. What's going on?" Trent started breathing heavily as he struggled to get up on his feet. Trent grabbed Kira. "Run….," said Trent. Kira looked at Trent, "Trent I'm not leaving, what's going on?" The White Dino Gem started glowing and Trent morphed into the White Ranger.

End of Chapter 4

**Author Note**: To my fans, don't get all mad I ended here, I promise I will update soon within the next 24 hours, so please wait. For my fans the next chapter will feature Trent meeting Mesogog, not the White Ranger, Trent, so stayed tuned. Thank you to the people who favorite this story, I appreciate it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Dino Gem**

**Chapter Five**

Kira was initially frozen by Trent's transformation. As the White Ranger advance towards her, Kira wanted to bring Trent back to his senses. "Trent it's me, Kira, c'mon snap back to reality. Trent!" "Stand and fight Yellow Ranger! It'll be no fun if you don't attempt a fight," said the White Ranger. "Trent…," said Kira. "I won't lose, I'm not losing you." Kira raised up her wrist, "Dino Thunder, Power Up."

On the other side of the construction site, Erica was practicing her martial art forms. "Block, punch, punch, punch…relax." Erica relaxed her body and walked toward her stuff and pulled out a water bottle. "Okay 27 down, 13 more to go, okay…" Erica let out a sigh. "At least I don't feel so weird anymore." Just then she felt the pain again and Erica collapsed to the floor again. "How the hell did I do that? I really need to keep my mouth shut!" Just then, Erica heard someone coming, "How do I explain to Anton why I trespassed onto a construction site…Nah I got nothing, I'll go hide somewhere, until they leave." Erica grabbed her stuff and dragged herself behind a couple of barrels. Erica peeked above the barrels to see who came, Erica saw the White Ranger walking across the compound carrying something-no, someone in his arms. _Okay, it's that creepy White Ranger that been terrorizing the city…what are the chances….wait who is he carrying?_ Erica watched as the White Ranger carried his victim into a warehouse. _Okay, _Erica thought_, I could call the cops, but what can they do? Option 2….call the Power Rangers, but how do I call them? Option 3 go and do something really, really, stupid._ Erica stood up clutching her body. "Okay, if I'm going to throw away my life, I'm going out strong…." Erica put her arm down. _It still hurts…_Erica took a sip of water_…Right now I'm that hostages only hope…._

In the warehouse, the White Ranger carried Kira to the deepest end of the warehouse and placed her against the wall. The White Ranger waved his Drago Sword and out from it appeared chains which wrapped around the still unconscious Kira. "As soon as you get your strength back, I'll expect another fight from you," said White Ranger. "If you're lucky your teammates will come to your rescue, only so that I can destroy you all at once." "Yo, Psycho White, ya mind letting the hostage go?" The White Ranger turned around to see a pale faced girl start walking towards him. "You! What are you doing here?" The White Ranger exclaimed. "Well the truth of the matter is…" started Erica. "Wait a minute, why am I explaining myself to you? Let your hostage go!" Erica peeked behind the White Ranger who was guarding his hostage, Erica saw Kia tied up but sleeping. "What did you do to Kira?" "Nothing she didn't have coming," smirked the White Ranger. The White Ranger turned his back on the girl. "Listen buddy," said Erica, "you have one last chance to let her go or else…." "Or else what? What can you possibly do to me? Why don't go on home" The White Ranger raised his sword "Laser Arrows….Shoot" The arrows flew towards Erica, Erica took a deep breath and slid out of the way. Erica formed a defensive position, "I'm a black belt martial artist, DO NOT take me lightly!" "So maybe you do have what it takes to fight me," said the White Ranger. "If you manage to defeat me, I'll let you take your friend, but if you lose, you better be prepared to say goodbye to world." "I accept," said Erica. _I came in here expecting this. Stick to the basics and I should hold out, but for whom?_

The Red and Blue Rangers arrived at the construction site. The Red Ranger started speaking on his communicator, "Dr. O we're here, are you sure about this?" "The sensors aren't lying, there are two massive energy bursts in that area, are you sure you can't see it?" The Red and Blue Ranger dismounted and started scanning the area when they heard something near the warehouse. When the Rangers reached near the warehouse they saw Erica fighting the White Ranger. The Blue Ranger commented "Is she nuts, or just crazy?" The Red Ranger replied, "It doesn't matter, we need to help her." Dr. O was watching the fight between Erica and the White Ranger, "That's strange," he murmured. "Is the White Ranger missing her on purpose? Does he want her to win?" The Red and Blue Ranger got in between the fight. "What are you doing? I'm in the middle of something!" "Listen to the kid, Rangers," said the White Ranger. "The kid asked for the fight, and I'm interested in it, she's given me more of a challenge then your team ever did." The Red Ranger grabbed Erica, "Why are you fighting him?" Erica took some deep breaths,

"Psycho White here took my friend hostage, and he won't let her go until I beat him."

"Do you know where he's keeping her?"

"Yeah, in the warehouse."

"Okay, you go get your friend to safety, me and my partner will keep the White Ranger busy, do you understand me?"

Erica nodded. "Okay, GO!" screamed the Red Ranger. As Erica dashed into the warehouse, she managed to scream at the White Ranger, "This match is on hold Psycho!" The White watched her dashed off, "For the record, she challenged me; I had no intention of fighting her." "Oh yeah," said the Blue Ranger, "Is that why you kidnapped her friend?" "You idiots don't even who I kidnapped." "It doesn't matter anymore, it ends here!"

Erica ran to place Kira was held, holding some pliers. Kira was awake by then, "What are you doing here?" "That a good question…" Erica looked up to Kira, "I could easily ask you the same thing." Kira remain mute on that as did Erica. Erica clipped the chains off Kira, and held her up as they slowly made their way out of the warehouse. The Rangers were having a difficult time against their White counterpart. "Say, how long do we keep at this?" asked the Blue Ranger. "As soon as Erica gets her friend out of here, we'll back off. What I would like to know is where Kira is? She hasn't been picking up, what could be keeping her!" Just then The Red and Blue Rangers saw Erica walking Kira out of the warehouse. "Conner…"said Ethan. "I don't want to let this monster walk away." "Neither do I." The Rangers slowly walked up to the White Ranger. "How dare you!" screamed the Red Ranger. "Good, now that you two see the whole picture, how about giving me a real fight, your partner didn't seem to put up one." Both Rangers were so mad, a burst of power came over them and spikes popped out. Both Rangers charged at the White Ranger attacking him with all their power.

After that attack, Conner and Ethan de-morphed as the White Ranger collapsed to the floor. "Let's go," said Conner. "The White Ranger is finished." As Conner and Ethan left the site, the White Ranger was trying to pick himself off the floor, "Impossible…..how could I lose?" The White Ranger knew his energy was fading fast. "I need to get out of here fast." The White Ranger picked himself up and was about to leave when two figures, a man and a woman, came out of a green light. "Oh great, it' you two," the White Ranger remarked. "I don't have time for this, I'm out of here." "You're not going anywhere," said the man. "You're weak from that battle you just had, and our master is still anxious to see you."

"How many times do I have to say "no" before your master gets the picture?" asked the White Ranger. "You misunderstand us," said the woman. "Our master already met the Ranger, now He wants to meet the man behind the Ranger. Given your current status it not going to take much to drag you to Him, if necessary." "Give it your best shot," bluffed the White Ranger. "Gladly," said the man as he and the woman both launched an attack on the White Ranger severely damaging him. As the White Ranger fell to floor, the woman ordered Tyranno Drones to chain the White Ranger. By the time the White Ranger was tied up securely he had de-morphed and his face was on the floor. "Should we take a look at him?" said Zeltrax. "You do it, just in case it was a trap," said Elsa. Zeltrax raised up the White Ranger head, Trent let out a groan. Zeltrax put down his head and returned to Elsa side.

"Well?"

"It isn't a trap."

"What does it mean when we present the White Ranger to Lord Mesogog?"

"This will either be a great victory for Him or He will destroy us on the spot."

Elsa gulped. "No time like the present," said Elsa as she, Zeltrax, the prisoner, and the Tyranno Drones went through an Invisi-Portal back to Mesogogs' lab.

At Mesogogs' lab, Mesogog was waiting for Elsa and Zeltrax return with the White Ranger. Mesogog raised his head up when he saw Zeltrax and Elsa enter the lab with the Tyranno Drones carrying the prisoner.

"Finally," said Mesogog as he approached the prisoner, "Let solve this enigma once and for all."

End of Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** I'll be busy the rest of the week so enjoy this until next Saturday. Thank you to all my fans that are catching up with this story. Every time I get a new fan favorite alert I feel I need to work extra hard on these chapters. I hope you will continue to follow this story. See you guys next week; here a hint I want to go with the next chapter: Dr.O said there were two energy bursts in the construction site, so who did the second burst belong to? I think you guys can put two and two together.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Dino Gem**

**Chapter Six**

As Mesogog walked towards the prisoner and lifted up his head, Trent shot a cold stare at Mesogog. "Anton Mercer's son….," said Mesogog. "Well…this is a bit of oversight on my part…I should have looked into him as an option. As Mesogog walked around Trent, Trent was trying to figure out how to loosen his chain. "All right, you freak-" started Trent. But Zeltrax stopped him in midsentence, "How dare you!" said Zeltrax as he hit Trent in the stomach with the butt of his sword. Trent fell on one knee but raised himself up and continued, "You got a good look, now how about loosening these chains?" "Not yet," said Mesogog. "I still want you to accept my offer to join my team, as we bring back the era of the dinosaurs." "Sorry," said Trent, "I'm not interested in bring back some fossils, what makes you think I be considering your offer?' "I was hoping the White Dino Gem would influence you decision." "Why would a white rock influence me?" "You still don't get it?" said Mesogog as he grabbed Trent's wrist and held up his bracelet. "This Dino Gem," said Mesogog; "is the Evil White Dino Gem. It has no trouble turning the purest souls evil. Are you telling me that you haven't felt its influence on you yet? Has it made you do anything you didn't want to do?" Trent remained silent. 'Maybe the boy doesn't understand the question," said Elsa as both Trent and Mesogog looked at her. Elsa held up a remote on a monitor and clicked a button. The video on the monitor was of the White Ranger fighting the Yellow Ranger.

"Dino Thunder, Power Up" said Kira. As Kira turned into the Yellow Ranger and started attacking the White Ranger. "Ptera Grips," said the Yellow Ranger as she stuck the White Ranger. "Are you finished yet?" said the White Ranger. "Cause I am." The White used his speed attack and quickly attacked the Yellow Ranger repeatedly until she demorphed. The video ended with the White Ranger carrying the unconscious Kira off.

"To repeat my master's question," said Elsa. "Did you want to purposely attack your girlfriend or was that the work of the Evil White Dino Gem?" Trent kept silent, while he was quietly struggling to break the chains. "But then again", continued Elsa, "why would the Evil White Ranger go easy on your sister?" Trent stopped struggling for a second as Elsa clicked another button on the monitor to see the White Ranger battle with Erica.

The White Ranger started off the fight with a speed attack but before the White Ranger could attack, Erica blocked his Drago Sword and countered with a punch. The White Ranger took a few steps back and attacked with his laser gun and shot out half a dozen shots on Erica which Erica dodged left and right. The fight was at the standstill for about five minutes until the Red and Blue Ranger relieved Erica of the fight.

"You must have been in control the whole time," said Elsa. "But why would you go brutally hard on one opponent while holding back power on the other opponent?" "Elsa," said Mesogog. "Check the energy reading on everyone fighting in both those videos." Elsa clicked a few button and the monitor showed a chart:

W.R. vs. Y.R.

W.R.= 100 Y.R.=50

W.R. vs. E.M

W.R.=80 E.R.= 80

Trent was reading the chart in his head, _W.R is me, Y.R. is Kira, and so that mean E.M is Erica Mercer. Why give Erica Anton's last name? _"That's impossible," said Zeltrax. "How can a human be more powerful than the Yellow Ranger?" 'Because," said Mesogog, "This human was fighting her twin. It's a natural phenomenon, when twins fight each other their powers are neutralized. In this case, 20 point of energy was taken from the White Ranger and given to his twin. But then, if that's the case, she should be at 60 at a normal level…." Mesogog stared at the screen for some time. "Zeltrax, bring the girl to me. I want to have a chat with her." Trent felt a surge of energy. "STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Trent screamed as a white energy swallowed him. As the White Ranger, he attacked Mesogog, Zeltrax, and Elsa with Laser Arrows. By the time the smoke cleared the White Ranger disappeared. "Forget the girl," said Mesogog. "Return the White Ranger to me NOW!" As Zeltrax and Elsa left the lab, Trent was camouflaged in the back of Mesogogs' lab. "I'm too weak to maintain the Ranger form. I'll stay out of sight until that monster leaves. "It will only be a matter of time before he returns; I'll just have to be patient," said Mesogog. Mesogog didn't even took two steps forward until he was raging with pain, "Not now, don't you dare come out yet!" In front of Trent's eyes, Trent saw Mesogog transform into his father, Anton Mercer. Anton fell on one knee and said out loud. "If Trent doesn't go after you for this Mesogog, I will! Stay the hell away from her, you have two choices: go after Trent or go after Erica but not both! I will stop you using every bit of energy I've got, do you understand me!" Anton picked himself up and walked out of the lab. As soon as Anton left the lab, Trent de-camouflaged in shock and walked out of the lab.

At Hayley's Cyberspace Café…

"Can you believe it Devin, that mean producer wants me to get real footage of the Power Rangers, how am I going to do that?" said Cassidy. "Cass, aren't you the one who volunteered to get him footage?" said Devin. "That doesn't matter….now how are we going to get those guys on film?" As Cassidy and Devin were talking Steven walked in the door and sat next to Devin. "Hey man, how it go with Erica?' said Devin, "We could use some good news." "Beautiful," said Steven. "We just talked about stuff and then she asked me to drop her off at the construction site, and then, I just spent the past few hours just wandering around…stunned. I'm still in shock over what happened." "Good job, man" said Devin. "Well at least _somebody _had a great day!" Cassidy snapped as she took a sip of her Decaf Latte. "What her problem?" asked Steven. "I'll explain later," said Devin. As that Erica walked into the Café, pointed at Steven, and said loudly so everyone turned their head. "The guy whose aiming to be my boyfriend, step outside please." Erica walked out the café while everyone was staring at Steven, Devin, and Cassidy. "What are you waiting for?" said Cassidy, "Go after her!" "Right," said Steven as he raced after her. Devin looked at Cassidy and raised his eyebrow. "What?" said Cassidy, "Everyone is staring at us, it's embarrassing."

Steven ran out the Café towards Erica and Kira. "Alright, I don't have a lot of time, I need to get Kira home, can I borrow your car?" Steven looked at her, Kira was pale and breathing heavily. "Are you sure she needs to go home, I would send her to a hospital…" "I don't need a hospital," said Kira, "I just need to go home." "Ok, fine," said Seven. "I give you my keys on one condition." 'What kind of condition?" "I want you to drive back to the Café after your done dropping her off and share a smoothie with me." "Ok, fine, I'll share a smoothie, can I get the keys now?" "Wait, you will?" Erica nodded. "Here you go. WOOT!" said Steven as he tossed the keys to Erica.

Kira gave Erica Dr. Oliver's address as her address. "So Kira," Erica started as she was driving. "Did Trent manage to talk to you yet?" Kira looked at Erica surprised. _How do I explain Trent to Erica?_ "We had a talk…" said Kira. "But Trent had some anger issues. He started going off at me about his issues with Anton and stuff…..and when I got tired of hearing him I walked away." Erica sighed. "I'm sorry," said Kira. "It's not your fault," said Erica. 'Maybe that was all bottled and Trent was waiting for the right person to tell everything to. I guess you weren't the right person." "Right," said Kira. "The thing is…" started Erica. "It's easy for you, your just a friend, you don't even have to like Trent, but I'm his sister. I have to like him even when I want to kill him. So anyway… after you walked away from Trent, that when you encountered the White Ranger right?" Kira nodded. "Okay, at least Trent wasn't attacked by that Psycho White guy. Thank goodness." Kira sighed, "_I'm sorry Erica, but I can't bring myself to tell you the truth_." Erica drove up to Dr. Oliver's house, "1992 Valencia Road, here you are Kira." "Thanks, I'll see you at school tomorrow." Kira left the car and ran inside the house. "And I thought this area was in the middle of nowhere," said Erica as she turned the car around and headed back to the Café.

At the Ranger's Base, Dr. Oliver was watching the monitor watching Elsa and Zeltrax capturing the White Ranger. "This could be very good for us, or very bad," said Dr.O. Dr. Oliver heard the door opening and saw Kira coming down the stairs. "Kira," said Dr. Oliver as he ran toward her, "Are you alright?" Kira was on the verge of tears, "It's Trent….." said Kira as she collapsed into Dr. Oliver arms.

Author's Note

I got a three day weekend here, so I'll try to update another chapter soon. Thanks for the support everyone!


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Dino Gem**

**Chapter Seven**

After Erica drove off with Kira, Steven returned to the Café. "So man what happened?" Devin asked pulling Steven a seat. "Well," said Steven, "if all goes well we're going to share a smoothie." On the other side of the Café, Conner and Ethan were enjoying their victory over the White Ranger. "Do you guys know what happened to Kira?" Hayley asked. Conner and Ethan shrugged, "We saw Erica take Kira away, and we don't need to blow our cover. What if Erica answers Kira communicator?" said Ethan. "Yeah, you have a point there," said Hayley, "but what if someone attacked Erica while she was taking Kira someplace safe, then what?" Both Conner and Ethan exchanged worried glances and spoke through their communicators. "Kira, where are you, are you okay?" said Conner. "It's alright guys," said Dr. Oliver, "she's already at the hideout. I need you two to head on over here as soon as possible; we need to discuss the White Ranger." "We'll be there soon," said Conner. Hayley looked at the both of them, "Looks like the celebrations over. See ya later." Conner and Ethan ran out the door.

At the Ranger's hideout...

"Dr. O is Kira okay?" said Conner as Ethan and him came down the stairs. "Yeah, I'm fine guys," said Kira. She was next to Dr. Oliver with a cup of something in her hand. Conner and Ethan ran over to her, 'Oh boy, are we glad to see you," said Ethan. "How did you get here?" "I told Erica this was my address, luckily she didn't follow me inside." "Now since that's settled, what about the White Ranger did you want to tell us?"

After Kira told Conner and Ethan the construction site incident, both of them were pacing around trying to get a handle on the situation. "Okay, so Trent not only has the nerve to attack you, but also his own sister!" said Conner. "This is a bigger twist than _Galaxy Wars 5_," said Ethan. Dr. O, Conner, and Kira all looked at him. "What?" said Ethan, "The main antagonist, the Emperor, tells the protagonist, the Alien Space Cowboy, that he's his father. One of the greatest plot twist in movie history." "Okay, whatever," said Conner. "Now we need a plan to handle Trent." "I'm at a standstill," said Dr. O, "the last reading with the White Ranger was when Elsa and Zeltrax captured him." "Well maybe Mesogog can do us all a favor and destroy him," said Conner. "Conner!" screamed Kira as she hit him. "What?" said Conner, "We're all thinking it, and can you show some hatred to the guy that tried to destroy you?"

Back at the Cyber Café….

Steven was waiting outside for Erica to return, "Okay man, when she comes back….tell her to go inside while you park the car….wait what if it takes forever to park the car and she leaves?" Just then, Stevens' car pulled up and Erica unlocked the doors. As Steven was entering the passenger car, "Okay, I'll let you go inside and….are you alright?" Steven saw Erica; she was pale and sweating bullets. "Yeah," said Erica. "I think I caught what Kira had. Ha-ha. " "You want to postpone, at least till you feel better?" "Nah, I'll be fine, I just need some water." "Are you sure?" "Positive, I'll wait inside," said Erica as she got out of the car. As Erica headed inside the Café she tossed the keys to Steven, 'Thanks," she Erica. Out of earshot Steven whispered, "You kept your end, so I kept mine, but I don't think the deal included getting sick germs in my car."

Near Anton and Trent's House…

Trent was walking towards the house, "_Alright I've spent most of my time thinking of what the next step is and here's what I got: Can't trust Dad, Can't trust Kira…so can I at least trust my sister?"_ Trent was in front the house fighting whether or not to enter, _"It's not like I got anywhere to go._" Trent entered the house and immediately ran up the stairs. "Trent, get down here!" Anton walked to the stairs and him and Trent locked eyes. "Where were you, your late," said Anton. "Why do you care?" said Trent. "Because I'm your father and I have to know where you've been!" "Wrong question," said Trent. "I meant, _why are you asking?_" "What?" said Anton confused. "Don't you dare claim ignorance! After the White Ranger disappeared, I hid in the back of the lab! And guess who showed after your partners left!" "No…' whispered Anton. "You did DAD! I heard that whole conversation between you and that monster half of you or whatever it is! You're letting that monster come after me so it doesn't go after Erica!" "Trent you don't understand…."said Anton. "Leave me alone…" said Trent as he continued up the stairs. To break the silence, someone was singing outside the house-it was Erica singing in another language:

"itsu no hi mo kimi wo omou yo

dakishimeta kata no kanshoku

tokete kiete nakunaru mae ni

kimi ni ai ni iku yo"

There was a male voice with her, "You know I kinda see why you took an art class instead of a music class." They were both laughing at the joke. Anton was focused on Erica and her friend talking he didn't notice Trent going into his room until he slammed the door. "We finish this conversation later Tent!" Anton went outside to interrupt them. "Hi Anton," said Erica. Steven walked towards Anton and extended his hand. "Mr. Mercer, I'm Steven." Anton shook Steven hand, "Nice to meet you Steven, now, can you leave? I need to have a word with Erica." Steven sighed and released his hand. 'Right, well I'll see you tomorrow at school, Erica, see ya." Steven walked away from Anton and Erica and got into his car and drove away.

Erica sighed and walked into the house. Anton was right behind her and shut the door. "So Erica…did we ever have the curfew talk?" "Curfew Talk…?" "Okay, I'll take that as a no….Erica, what time is it?" "Umm….7:15pm?" "Starting tomorrow I want you home about 1 hour after you get dismissed." "What?" "Got it?" "C'mon, Anton, that's not fair, it's only my first day here, and I met someone." "So did I, I just met him." Anton smiled while Erica rolled her eyes. "Can't we at least compromise?" said Erica. "What kind of compromise?" "Fine, so I come home after school on weekdays, does that mean weekends are a loophole?" Anton sighed, "_If I could, I wouldn't let you."_ "Fine, if you manage to come home on time every day this week, then on weekends you get no curfew." "Thank You!" Erica said before she turned around and went upstairs. Anthon was thinking as Erica was going up, _"Why am I letting her get away with weekends? _As Erica was walking up the stairs she thought, _"Why aren't I fighting him on this stupid curfew, right, I'm the guest, and I'm too tired to argue._ When Erica reached the top of the stairs, she looked right towards Trent's room. Trent was leaning in the doorway, "Well, well, isn't it little Miss. Perfect, how are you tonight?" "Trent, I've had a really long day, and I'm not in the mood." Erica started walking away from Trent when she turned around to face him. "By the way….how was your talk with Kira?" Trent laughed, "Oh you really want to know, huh? Okay, I'll tell you. She hates me. Plain and Simple. I followed your advice, I told her everything, and…she dumped me." Erica sighed, "Trent….I'm sorry." "You're sorry, are you kidding? DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!" Trent huffed and went into his room. Erica went into her room and laid on her bed. "Great, I still feel sick…" Erica pulled out water bottle from her bag and drank some water. "What's so great about this water? I drank some at the construction site and I felt better then….and then at the Café….and then here…now."

The next morning….

Anton was in the middle of paperwork in his office when his alarm went off. "Time to drop Erica off at school…" Anton heard Trent and Erica coming down the stairs, 'I'll see you outside…' said Trent. Erica headed towards the kitchen, where Anton met her. "Do you want me to drop you two off?" "No, Steven's outside, he's giving us a ride," said Erica as she was stuffing water bottles in her bag. "Even Trent?" said Anton. "I heard the argument you two had last night." "Yes, even Trent. He knocked on my door this morning, told me_ I'm sorry_ and_ Can your boyfriend give me a lift?_ Anything wrong with that, Anton?" "No…"said Anton. As soon as Erica was done she left the kitchen and the house leaving Anton alone. "They did it," Anton murmured, "they isolated me."

After School…

"I can't believe how many empty water bottles are in here?" said Steven with Erica's open bag in his hands. Erica shrugged, "I still don't feel good, okay? Whatever I got from Kira must still be in my system." "Are you really going to use _that_ excuse? Kira was fine today….we saw her in science class, remember?" "What's your issue with a half a dozen empty bottles in my bag?" "You could've just carried one and refilled it during the day!" "Ohhhh, yeah, I guess I could've done that," said Erica. "Well, that was a waste of five minutes," said Steven closing Erica's bag. "Do you want me to drive you back home?" "Nah, I'll walk home. Anton can't punish me if I spent the hour _walking _home." "Sounds like a plan, I'm in," said Steven. "_You're in_?" said Erica, "what does that mean? You want to walk with me _all the way_ to where I'm staying….and then walk to your house?" Steven nodded. "Okay," said Erica. As they were walking together they were approached by the White Ranger. Steven put Erica behind him, "Is this the creep from yesterday?" "Yeah…it's him" said Erica. "I don't know what you're girlfriend told you, but she owes me a rematch," said the White Ranger. Erica smiled, "I did, didn't I." Steven turned around to face her, "If you accept his challenge, you're gonna be late for curfew, if your late for curfew, then we won't be able to go on our date on Saturday." "Listen buddy, I don't need you to get in the way of my fight, if you get involved I will attack with my full strength!" 'Relax Steven," said Erica as she walked towards the White Ranger, "I got him. I wasn't lying at lunch, I went toe-to-toe with this guy yesterday. I want to try my luck without interruption."

The White Ranger and Erica took fighting positions, "Erica don't get killed, I get the feeling Anton knows how to kill a man, and I don't want to be a victim" said Steven. On a nearby rooftop, Elsa and Zeltrax appeared from an Invisi-Portal. "You brought the scanner, Zeltrax?" "Yes, I have it here." "Good as soon as the battle heats up; scan both targets, I want to see what their real energy levels are."

End of Chapter Seven

**Author Note:**

First up I want to thank

『IMITATION BLACK』歌ってみた【蛇足×バルシェ×clear】

When Erica was singing, it was part of this song; this title is from _YouTube _or search _Imitation Black _and the lyrics I got from: ., so if I'm wrong about the lyrics don't point it out. Also _Galaxy Wars 5 _is a movie reference, not an arcade reference.This story is not making any money so please don't sue me. I want to thank all my fans!


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Gem**

**Chapter Eight**

After school; Conner, Ethan, and Kira were waiting for Dr. Oliver to get out of school. When Dr.O finally left the building Conner and Ethan ran up to meet. "By the way Dr. O…." said Conner. "Let me guess, you want to talk about the burst of energy you two experienced yesterday," said Dr. O. "Yeah, something along those lines…." said Ethan. Dr. O stopped to think for a second, "Well my guess is you two just tapped into this whole new level of power because you two couldn't lose…." "Well, yeah of course not," said Conner. "But why?" said Dr. O, "What made this battle different from the others?" "Because… if we lost we would've….." "lost Kira," finished Ethan. "That's my thought," said Dr. O, "you both knew that you couldn't lose this battle and with that attitude you easily tapped into this power." Conner, Ethan, and Dr. Oliver walked up to Kira, "So, what are we practicing today?' asked Kira. "Today I want to test Conner and Ethan limits with their new power…." "Oh, so you guys don't need me then?" said Kira. "Hey, why wouldn't we need you?" said Conner. "I wanted to test their limit to see if it would give you the confidence to tap into your new power," said Dr. O, "it doesn't just work for guys, okay Kira?" "Yeah, I guess so…" "Come ON Devin, we're going to miss the fight!"

Conner, Kira, Ethan, and Dr. Oliver looked towards Cassidy dragging Devin who was fumbling with his camera bag. "Cassidy you wouldn't record a fight between two students and not tell me about it?" asked Dr. Oliver. Cassidy and Devin stopped short and turned around to face him. "It's not a fight between two students Dr. O," said Cassidy. "Yea, it kinda is…" said Devin. Cassidy elbowed Devin. "Cassidy…." said Dr. Oliver. "It's the White Ranger!" said Cassidy, "now you guys better not steal my scoop!" Cassidy walked away from Dr. O while Devin walked up, "Some kid said the White Ranger was fighting Erica, the new girl, okay? I need to help Cassidy, see ya," said Devin as he ran up to Cassidy. Everyone exchanged glances, "So what's Trent's problem with his sister, I mean I get why she fought him yesterday, but why today?" asked Kira. "You weren't there…." said Ethan. "Why?" said Kira. 'Erica kinda…promised the White Ranger a rematch," said Conner. "What was she thinking!" said Kira. "I don't think she meant it…" said Dr. O, "but Trent seems to think it's real." "It wasn't Trent!" said Kira, "the White Ranger is making him do this!" "How about instead of pointing the blame finger around, let's stop the White Ranger before from doing something he might regret," said Ethan. The group agreed and followed after Cassidy and Devin.

At the fight site…..

"White Drago Sword Laser Arrows," Erica preformed a dodge rolled and the attack missed. After dodging, Erica ran up to the White Ranger and tried to punch him in the face but the helmet was too hard. "Damn it…" said murmured shaking her fist. "Is that he best you got?" said the White Ranger as he punched her. Erica was knocked back a few feet but she shook off the attack. "I see…" said the White Ranger, "it's going to take something more to beat you." Steven was standing near a group of civilians who were watching the fight, "Is this a show?' one guy asked. "How much are they paying these people?" asked a woman. "C'mon, Erica…." whispered Steven, "walk away before it's too late." Elsa and Zeltrax were watching the fight, "Well?" asked Elsa. "80-80; there are evenly matched," replied Zeltrax.

Erica was pushed back by the White Ranger latest attack, _"I have no idea how to beat this guy, what do I do?" thought Erica_. "Time to bring out the big guns," said the White Ranger as he pulled out a laser. The White Ranger aimed the laser at the Erica, 'You're really gonna shoot me, I'm not even armed," said Erica. "This seems like overkill I know, but if you went down… I don't know maybe five minutes ago I wouldn't have felt the need to use this," said the White Ranger. The White Ranger shot at Erica, "Erica GET DOWN!" screamed Steven from the crowd. Erica went down on her stomach and the laser beam missed her but went towards the crowd of people that was standing a few feet behind her, the crowd scattered but the beam hit a building. Erica raised her head up and saw Steven running away from the attack. "It almost hit him…" murmured Erica, "he almost…I almost…." Erica grabbed some dirt and picked herself up. Erica turned to face the White Ranger staring coldly at him. Erica ran at the White Ranger with almost super speed, the White Ranger shot a few more laser beams at her, but Erica easily dodged out of the way. Erica landed at least half a dozen quick jabs at the White Ranger.

"What the-" said Zeltrax looking the scanner. "What are their energy levels now?" asked Elsa. "100-80," said Zeltrax. "There you go White Ranger, all you needed was some motivation," said Elsa. "It's not the White Ranger….it's the girl….her energy level is 100," said Zeltrax. "What? That's impossible!" screamed Elsa, "You're scanner must be busted, she only human."

The White Ranger was knocked back into a building, Erica stood in a defensive position. "I'm not gonna let you win," said Erica. Erica fell on one knee, breathing heavily, "Great…_now_ my body decides to act up at the worst possible time." Steven ran into an alleyway where he could still see the fight. Steven saw Erica on the ground and the White Ranger walking towards her, "What's wrong?" said the White Ranger, "Ran out of energy already?" Erica got on her feet and jumped back away from the White Ranger. Steven clutched Erica's bag, "Damn it, she still isn't feeling well, and where the hell are those Ranger?"

"Give me that scanner!" said Elsa as she snatched it from Zeltrax. Elsa aimed the scanner at Erica and the White Ranger. "There Zeltrax, I fixed the problem. Now it reads 120-80." "Elsa, you should read the labels next to the numbers," said Zeltrax. Elsa read the numbers, "EM-120, WR-80. Legend, EM=Erica Mercer, WR= White Ranger…What is going on with this stupid machine? The girl is on the ground breathing her last breaths, how is she stronger than the White Ranger!"

Steven looked at Erica's bag, "Didn't Erica say yesterday at the Cafe…that she needed water when she looked sick…and she brought all these water bottles to school today…." Steven opened up Erica bag, "Empty…Empty…Empty…Empty…Viola!" Steven pulled out a full water bottle and ran up to the fight. Erica was dodging the White Ranger Sword Attack. "You can't dodge me forever," said the White Ranger as he attacked Erica. She countered the White Rangers attack and kicked him away. "Yoooo, Erica, catch!" said Steven as he tossed a water bottle towards her. Erica caught the bottle and quickly drank the water. The White Ranger recovered from the attack and faced Steven, "I thought I told you to stay away from this fight!" Steven quickly retreated back to the alley. The White Ranger faced Erica and was initial shocked. Erica didn't look sick anymore, she wasn't sweating or anything. She took a defensive position, "Ready…" she said. The White Ranger tilted his helmet to the side. "Ummm, what did that guy give you?" "Just some medicine…." She replied smiling.

Elsa was smacking the scanner, "Stupid scanner…" she said. The machine beeped three times before changing the numbers. "There, now it reads 80-80, only you would build such a buggy piece of machine Zeltrax…." "Elsa, look at the girl." Elsa turned to look at the fight, Erica and the White Ranger were evenly matched now, there were each countering the other's attack. "This doesn't make any sense…if the scanner wasn't wrong….how did she run out of energy when the scanner showed that she was strong enough to beat the White Ranger. Now they're on an even playing field and she has all the energy in the world." "Elsa, we should report back to Lord Mesogog when he returns…" said Zeltrax. "I second that…" said Elsa as they both went through an Invisi-Portal.

The White Ranger pushed Erica back when he saw the four Rangers run up, "Oh…great you brought back up," said the White Ranger. "What are you talking about?" Erica asked. Erica turned around and saw the Rangers coming; she turned and faced the White Ranger. "I didn't do it..." "Five against one doesn't seem like fair odds," said the White Ranger. "_Neither was shooting me with a laser beam,"_ thought Erica. "Fine, I can take a hint…" the White Ranger turned and walked away. "See ya," said the White Ranger. "Wait!" screamed Erica. The White Ranger stopped. "I don't want a rematch…" said Erica. "Heh, fine by me," said the White Ranger as he disappeared.

The Rangers ran up to Erica. "Hey, are you okay?" asked the Black Ranger. "You guys sure took you're sweet time," said Erica walking away. The Yellow and Blue Ranger got in Erica's way. "What were you thinking? You could've gotten killed,' said the Yellow Ranger, 'Does that even faze you?" "Hmmm, nope see ya." Erica walked towards Steven and embraced him, "See I told you I could handle myself." "You sure, I saw a few close calls." Cassidy and Devin ran up to Erica, "So tell the world Erica," started Cassidy holding a microphone, "why did you let the White Ranger off the hook?" "What...?" "Don't "?" me, if you two continued the fight, I'm sure the White Ranger would've lost...eventually. But most importantly, we would've seen his secret identity." "Cassidy….." said Erica, "if you had been watching the fight, you would've seen the White Ranger identity. The four Rangers, Cassidy, and Devin all said "What?" simultaneously. "Devin, let me see your camera." "Sure, Erica, but I was watching the fight pretty carefully and I didn't see anything like that." Erica took the camera from Devin and started looking at the camera carefully. "Do you really think Erica caught a glimpse of the White Ranger?" whispered the Blue Ranger. "She's acting too calm if she did," said the Black Ranger. Erica opened up the memory card component, took out the memory card and tossed the camera back at Devin. "See ya," said Erica and Steven as they ran off. Cassidy and Devin chased after them, "Give that back!" screamed Cassidy, "I need that to get the job at the T.V. station!" The Rangers all looked at each other. "How did Erica last so long against Trent? It doesn't make any sense," said the Blue Ranger. "Maybe Trent was _nice _enough to let her win," said the Red Ranger sarcastically. "More importantly…" said the Yellow Ranger, "What are we going to do about Trent. Are we help him or not?" "It depends…" said the Black Ranger, "we can't save Trent if he has no trouble hurting civilians. If Trent is fighting the White Gem, then we need to save him, but it's too early to say if Trent is corrupted or just evil. Let's get back; we need to figure out our next plan against the White Ranger."

At Anton and Trent's House…

Erica walked in the door and was walking past Anton's study. Erica took a glimpse and saw Anton reading a newspaper. "Erica you're home," said Anton. Erica stopped and walked back to the doorway. Anton folded his paper and put it aside. "Do you know what time it is?" "No idea…" "Didn't we have the talk yesterday?" "I recall something of it…" "Then you know the drill?" Erica shrugged. Anton saw something in her eyes, "What happened?" "Nothing…" Anton sighed, "How 'bout you tell me what happened today, if it's the truth, I'll give you a second chance." Erica shook her head. "You would rather be grounded than tell me the truth." "Anton…" Erica took a second to gather her thoughts, "under normal circumstances, I wouldn't believe what happened to me, but it happened. I can't change anything, and there is no reason why I need to involve you in this… mess!" Erica exhaled, 'I'm going up to my room." Erica turned to face the stairs, "Wait!" said Anton, "this morning you put about half a dozen water bottles in your bag. Why?" Erica turned to face Anton, "It's my medicine, I haven't been feeling good, I drink a bottle of water and I feel better, okay? See ya." Erica ran up the stairs. "Great, that was productive," said Anton. "I wonder what happened…" Trent walked in the door, but before he could walked up the stairs, Anton dragged Trent into his study and locked the door. "What happened?" screamed Anton. Trent laughed. "You're sister came home, something happened, tell me what happened!" Trent shrugged, "She owed me a rematch, nothing else," said Trent. "You attacked your sister! Why the hell would you do something like that?" "She was more of a challenge than the other Rangers; I actually enjoyed myself fighting her. Why do you care?" "You Almost Killed Your Sister….did you not understand what you could've done!" "Guess not. Why are you pissed off I thought you liked the whole destruction thing or is that your other half?" Anton and Trent stared at each other, "Trent…." started Anton, "stay away from your sister; she doesn't deserve to be dragged into this." "Wow, Dad….I wish I could've had a choice to stay out of _your _mess!" Trent unlocked the study door and walked out.

Anton started sweating, 'I've fought him long enough…" said Anton as he walked through the Invisi-Portal. At Mesogogs' lair, Elsa and Zeltrax were working typing on a computer. "I hope you two spent your day doing something productive, I saw that you two didn't capture the White Ranger," said Mesogog as he walked in. "My lord….." said Zeltrax, "We started a study on Mercer's kids." Mesogog started at Zeltrax, 'Why would you start something so unproductive?" "My lord, allow me…" said Zeltrax as clicked some buttons on the computer, and the screen pulled up some data.

Round 1: W.R vs. E.M; Energy Levels: 80-80

Round 2: W.R. vs. E.M; Energy Levels 80-100

Round 3: W.R. vs. E.M; Energy Level 80-120

Round 4: W.R. vs. E.M; Energy Level 80-80

"Elsa, is this data correct?" Elsa took a step forward, "My lord, given that this is just our first trial I wouldn't put too much stock in the data." "And yet…." said Mesogog, "the girl's energy level was unusual yesterday as well wasn't it." "That's not all..." said Zeltrax. He told Mesogog the entire fight between Erica and the White Ranger. "Elsa and I are trying to figure out why the girl would be so weak when her energy levels spiked, and why when the girl was able to match the White Ranger strength when her energy level decreased." "Humans are such weak creatures….she probably couldn't handle that surplus of power and it ended up weakening her. Where is the girl getting the energy from? Hmm…" Mesogog walked away from Zeltrax and Elsa. "Mercer has been putting up a fight to keep me at bay…I want you two to continue this test without directly attacking the girl. Do I make myself clear?" Zeltrax and Elsa nodded. "Good," said Mesogog as he left the lab, _"It was a Dino Gem, there is no other explanation,"_ thought Mesogog. After Mesogog left, Zeltrax walked up to Elsa, "thanks for backing me up," he said sarcastically. "Well, if Mesogog hated your plan there was no point in both of us getting destroyed," said Elsa, "now we need a plan to track the girls' energy level, but how?" "Mesogog said _don't directly attack her_, but he didn't say we couldn't attack the people around her," said Zeltrax. "So, we send a monster to an area where she is...its starts attacking people and she will go and start fighting the monster…we need to be careful on this one. We need to take precautions so that the other Rangers won't interfere. I have a plan."

End of Chapter 8

Author's Note: I want to thank all my followers; I'm trying to move this story forward, but it's difficult. I will update next week if I don't drown in homework.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Gem**

**Chapter Nine**

"Erica, we need to talk," said Anton as they walked into the study. Erica sat on the couch while Anton took the seat across from her. "Okay, about what?"

"First off…" started Anton, "we need to talk about your curfew. You've been coming home late for the past three days, are you planning to start coming home on time?"

Erica thought for a second, "Nope…" she finally answered.

"You sure?"

"Yup. It's more interesting walking home from school."

"Even if it means getting attacked by monsters?"

"Who told you about the monsters?"

"Erica, you'd be surprised how I get this information. Just like Dr. Oliver gave me a call today, other people do the same thing. "

Erica stuck out her tongue.

Anton shrugged, "If you don't want to meet me when I pick you up from school, that's fine. I can always have Principal Randall escort you from your last period class to the car-"

"How are you gonna get Randall to escort me?"

"She's an old friend. I don't think she'll mind"

"I…did wait for you…today….you didn't show."

"Oh…did I?" said Anton, "that's strange since I saw your brother and I gave _him_ a ride home."

Erica started looking down on the ground, embarrassed.

"Look," said Anton, "Under normal circumstances I wouldn't care about this curfew. Since these strange monsters are after you I figure the safest place for you to be is home. Please can we enforce this rule until this monster business is settled, okay?"

Erica looked up and saw Anton in the eyes, he looked worried. "Okay," she said. "I'm getting tired of fighting those creeps anyway."

"Good, now that settled…now we need to have the other talk. I want to talk to you about your Dino Gem."

"My what?"

"Your Dino Gem, the pink rock that's in your pocket that you carry around everywhere, it's called a Dino Gem."

Four Hours Earlier…

"Thank goodness school's over," said Steven. "How come Japanese class is so hard?"

"Cause its Honors," said Erica as she was putting her books away.

"Oh, yeah," said Steven. "By the way, how did Anton punish you last night?"

"He said something about picking me up after school; he's probably out there waiting right now." Erica started walking in the opposite direction of the exit.

"Hey Erica, the exit is this way," said Steven.

"Forget it. I'm not getting a ride home from Anton; I'm gonna sneak out the back. Care to join me?"

"Why not? It's always fun getting in trouble with a friend," said Steven following her out.

"Erica!" screamed a voice from down the hall.

"I know that journalistic voice…." said Erica as she turned around to face Cassidy. Devin was right behind Cassidy.

"Where is it?" said Cassidy.

"Where's what?" asked Erica.

"The tape! The video of you and the White Ranger fighting each other, where is it?"

"That? Dev, I thought I gave that back to you in Paleontology class?"

"You did but….," said Devin.

"You erased it! The whole fight scene! That was gonna make my career and you erased it! That is a violation of….Freedom of the Press."

"Cass…" said Erica, "the 1st Amendment is so the government can't stop you from publishing anything you want. I don't work for the government hence, I can delete it." Erica walked out of school with Steven following her. "Ugghh," said Cassidy, "why do you like them Devin?" "C'mon Cass, they're not bad…."

"Forget it, let's go get some footage of the Rangers," said Cassidy.

Outside school, Anton was waiting in the car for Erica to come out.

"C'mon Erica, how long does it take to get out of school?" Anton murmured. Just then Trent entered the car on the front passenger seat. "Aww, this is first, you picking me up from school," said Trent. "Trent," said Anton, "Don't you have work to go to?" "I quit that boring job weeks ago. Let me guess you want me to bug off right. Are you waiting for your favorite kid to come out of school?" "Trent….," said Anton. "Erica is in a special situation, she's been attacked after school the past two days in a row, _her first two days let me add,_ by her twin brother." "How did you know about Monday…right you're other half," scoffed Trent. "I give up…" said Anton, "First off, Mesogog is not my other half! We just share the same mind…it was a freak science experiment I performed on myself. Not only is my DNA messed up with dino DNA but now I have to share my life with this monster, and neither one of us are enjoying the situation." "So…you're a part of him?" "In a way, yes, but by no means can we control the other. You only got dragged into this situation because you stole His Dino Gem and I'll be damned if Erica gets involved in this, too." Anton looked at Trent, he was spaced out. "_Wait a minute," _thought Anton, _"does Trent even know Erica has a Dino Gem?"_ "Trent…" said Anton touching his shoulder. "So…" said Trent. 'Why don't I just join the family business?" "What? No! God damn it, Trent! I'm trying not to get you involved and you want to join?" "For the record," said Trent, 'You've been a cold hearted jerk, always trying to mold me in your business world. And only now when I know the _real_ you. When I want to get into your "dinosaurs taking over" world you're trying to push me back. Why?" "Trent, why are you trying to get involved with Mesogog? Dealing with Mesogog is dangerous, and only I can deal with him. I tried to keep you away from Mesogogs' world for as long as I could. I'm just sorry I couldn't protect you." "Its' way too late for apologies…." said Trent.

There was a long silence between the two of them. "I figured…" said Trent, "she ditched you." "I guess you're right." "On the bright side, you got me, so she should be okay. I can't attack her or anything…" Trent saw that Anton looked grim. "Unless you think something else is going on?" Trent asked. Anton remained silent. "Okay then," said Trent. "Lets' make a deal, either you let me join Mesogogs' team or I go reengage right this second and I _may or may not _meet my sister, and I don't really have total control of this White Gem so I can't predict how the next fight will end." "Wow…you really missed what I told you, huh?" said Anton. "What?" "You actually think I have control over Mesogog? You're dreaming. The only part I play is when I want my turn with this body. You'll have to ask him yourself, oh and He hates me, so I'd probably be the worse reference you could use." "Well then…" said Trent. "Let's go to work. Your _other _work."

About a half a mile away from school, Erica and Steven were walking together….

"So…" said Erica, 'how did you get stuck with Japanese Honors? I mean…like you're a good artist so I know why we share Advanced Art class but why Japanese?"

"It's a funny story…okay so my mom fills out the school application and it tells you to put your father's address, right. So my mom gave them my dad's address….in Kyoto."

"Your dad lives in Kyoto! That's so cool."

"Yeah, but the thing is both my parents are American, my dad just moved to Japan because that was where he lived when he was stationed."

"He's in the military too!"

"No, he was in the military you see-"

Just then the building Erica and Steven were walking up to, exploded. Steven grabbed Erica and they fled into an alley. Erica and Steven peeked out to see some monster blasting away at every building. "Oh great not again….," murmured Steven.

"Again! You mean I'm not the only one in this town being attacked by something!"

"Sorry, my bad…okay the White Ranger going after civilians is not normal, I mean he normally goes after the Rangers. You're the first civilian he attacked. On the other hand you have monsters like these who go after civilians pretty regularly or at least the Rangers show up and then it turns big…."

"I don't know about you but I'm not gonna let this monster do any more damage…" said Erica as she walked out of the alley. Steven grabbed her arm, "Not this time, it's not targeting you. There's no point to fighting it! You're still not feeling well, just sideline today, okay?"

Erica pulled away from Steven grip, 'Compromise, I'll only fight this….thing until the Rangers get here, okay?'

Steven sighed, 'Just tell me when you want a break; I bought a secret weapon we could use."

"No problem," said Erica as she ran off to fight the monster.

At the Ranger's Hideout …..

The Black Ranger was typing on the computer while the three Rangers were behind him, "So Dr.O what's the situation?" asked the Red Ranger. "Two monsters and their in different locations, one on the east side of the city, the other in the West side." "Mesogog must be getting desperate if he thinks we gonna be beat by two monsters," said Ethan. "The issue is that we need to attack those monsters at the same time, we can't just focus all our attention on one monster while the other goes on a rampage," said the Black Ranger, "Alright, Conner and Ethan, you take the monster on the East side. Kira, you're with me, and we're going to handle the monster on the West side." "Right," said the Yellow Ranger.

At Mesogogs' lair…..

"I see you haven't had much time to decorate…" said the White Ranger scanning the area. Mesogog grabbed and pinned him on the wall, 'I am only going to say this once. I don't care that you are Mercer's son. If you make one move against me, I will destroy you, do I make myself clear?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever, so long as I get fight whoever I want, you'll have no qualms with me."

Mesogog released him and the White Ranger followed Mesogog.

"Finally she shows up…" said Elsa. Zeltrax and Elsa were watching a screen of the fight between the monster and Erica. "So while the Rangers are busy with one monster we can watch the fight with the girl without interference," said Zeltrax.

"Are you two that desperate for a victory you're sending a monster to attack a kid? You guys really are weak," said the White Ranger.

Elsa and Zeltrax turned around to see the White Ranger behind Mesogog. "My lord, what is the White Ranger doing here?" Zeltrax asked.

"Assisting us by destroying the Power Rangers," replied Mesogog.

"He didn't seem too keen on joining the last time we met," said Elsa pulling out her sword.

"Put it away, as soon as the monster that is distracting the Rangers is destroyed, I sending the White Ranger in to finish the job," said Mesogog. Mesogog looked to the White Ranger, "Do you object?"

The White Ranger shook his head.

"Good," said Mesogog.

"What are their energy levels?" asked the White Ranger.

Zeltrax didn't want to answer, "The monster is at 80, the girl is at 60. No change yet though."

"Change?" asked the White Ranger.

"When your sister was fighting you yesterday," said Elsa, "her energy levels were changing every few minutes, up, down, up, you get the drill. We weren't sure if it was because of you or her, so we're testing that theory."

"How strong is 60 on a human scale?" The White Ranger asked.

"The normal human scale is between 20 and 40, if someone is especially strong, 45," said Zeltrax.

"Oh yea, she's special all right, she gave me a run for my money the past two days." _"Which was strange_"thought the White Ranger, _"it took me half the time and energy to finish the Rangers off."_

At the fight…

Erica ran up to the monster, "Hey freak, why don't you go pick on someone your own strength!" The monster turned around, "Oh it's you, I've been waiting for you. Ready to fight?'

"What?" said Erica stunned, "You've been….."

"Yup, my boss wants to see how strong you are since you headed up the attack against the White guy yesterday, you must be made of something." With that the monster shot out an attack, Erica dodged it but quickly hid behind a car. Steven followed Erica, "So what happened, why did you let that monster-",

"It was waiting for me, It doesn't make any sense," said Erica.

"Are you feeling alright?"

Erica shook her head, 'I'm fine, but what that monster said...it got to me."

Steven opened his bag and pulled out a katana, "Wanna double team it?"

Erica looked at him and smiled. Steven and Erica charged at the monster, the monster blasted out another attack at Erica but she dodged it. Erica punched the monster and jumped back to let Steven swipe his sword at the monster. The monster fell back.

"What's the boys' energy level?" asked Mesogog. "42," replied Zeltrax. "Heh, he probably making up for yesterday, he did absolutely nothing. And he thinks waving his sword around is gonna change the odds of this battle," said the White Ranger. "Master," said Elsa. Mesogog, Zeltrax, and the White Ranger turned to Elsa who was watching the other fight. "The Red and Blue Rangers are fighting this monster but I can't see the Yellow or Black Ranger."

"We will see them soon, Elsa, don't you worry," replied Mesogog.

Steven and Erica was breathing heavily, 'Go back to your bag and drink some of that water you have," said Steven, 'it did a wonder for you yesterday. Erica didn't want to leave Steven alone, "Relax," he said, "I know how to run and dodge." Erica ran over to the bag as Steven distracted the monster. Erica took out a water bottle and started drinking it, but she didn't feel anything. "Damn it what was so different about yesterday's fight? I felt weak; I got tossed a water bottle and….wait, I not feeling that pain. I'm just hurt today, it a different pain that the water cures, what causes _that_ pain? Uggh…all right I need to get back." Erica ran back to Steven, "Well," said Steven. 'Better than ever," said Erica giving him a thumbs up. Before Erica could move two steps she collapses in pain, _"This is the pain the water cures…but what caused it?" _Steven got in front of Erica, 'Can you get out of here?" Erica picked herself up and ran back to the car. Steven rose up his sword. "Look kid, I'm only here to test the girl out so why don't you get out of my way," said the monster. Steven laugh, 'Sorry man, I saw her first, she's mine." "Sorry kid, but you did this to yourself." Before the monster could attack…..

"Brachio Staff Blade Strike!" suddenly the monster was hit by a wind attack. The monster was pushed back by the attack, the Black and Yellow Ranger came to Stevens' aid. "Take your friend and get out of here!" said the Black Ranger. "Oh no, she not getting out of this one!" said the monster. It saw Erica run into the alleyway, "I'm not letting her out until she shows me what she's made of!" The monster attacked with a beam of energy at Erica.

"What's her energy level now?" asked the White Ranger. "85," replied Zeltrax. "How is that possible…." said the White Ranger, "what is she reacting to, that would cause this?' "We thought it was you," said Elsa. "Well I'm here, _morons_, so I would like to see you two to prove that theory."

"Lightning Beam!" screamed the monster as he shot out his attack. The attack was too big to dodge. "Erica!" screamed the Yellow Ranger as she ran towards her. The Yellow Ranger got in front of Erica when the beam swallowed them. Steven and the Black Ranger screamed "NO!" Steven tried to run into the blast but the Black Ranger held him back. "You can't help them now!"

Elsa and Zeltrax stared at the White Ranger. "What are you two looking at?" "Nothing….," they murmured. "T_hat Dino Gem did corrupt him, how can he stand there so calm?" _"You two aren't watching close enough. Elsa and Zeltrax looked at the screen: Y.R: 110 E.M: 100. "They're still alive!" said Zeltrax. "Looks like it," said the White Ranger.

When the smoke cleared, the Yellow Ranger was standing up with her uniform covered in spikes, with Erica on the ground behind her. "Woa….," said Steven. "You said it," replied the Black Ranger. The Yellow Ranger turned around and pulled up Erica off the ground, 'You okay?" asked the Yellow Ranger. "Yeah…I think so." "Good. Now Get Out Of Here!" "Yes Ma'am," said Erica as she turned around and ran away. "You better get out of here too", said the Black Ranger to Steven. "Yeah, no problem," Steven put away his katana and ran out of sight. "Kira, you ready to finish this guy off?" "No problem, just leave it to me!"

Erica kept running until she reached the shoreline. As soon as Erica reached the water she collapsed into the water, "Damn it! What did I get myself into!" Just then Erica heard a voice crying but the sound was coming from the ocean. She stood up trying to figure out where the voice, "Where are you! Say something!" By the time Steven caught up to Erica, he saw her screaming into the water. "Yo, Erica, are you alright?" Erica was staring out to the water, "Can you hear it? Someone's screaming…" "I can't hear a thing," said Steven. "Are you sure?" "I think so." Erica turned around and sat down on the sand. "How did this happen? I didn't expect a monster to target me." "I don't think anyone wants a monster to come after them." Steven saw that Erica was freaked out by this situation, "Okay, fine, you win, I'll tell you." "Tell me what?" "Remember, how I got in Japanese Honors? Well like I said my dad was in the military…"

The Yellow and Black Ranger were up against the monster. "Laser Fire," said the Yellow Ranger. The monster was hit by the attack. The Yellow Ranger charged up to the monster and jabbed the monster about a dozen times. "Dino Energy Orb," screamed the Black Ranger as the sphere of energy hit and destroyed the monster. "One down, one to go," said the Yellow Ranger, "Now let's go help Conner and Ethan." "Yeah but first I need to do something," said the Black Ranger.

"Are you two going to make the monster grow?" said the White Ranger to Elsa and Zeltrax. "Don't bother," said Mesogog. "White Ranger, go and help the monster on the East Side, make sure those Rangers don't destroy it." "Finally some action," said the White Ranger as he left. As soon as the White Ranger left the room Elsa was the first to speak, "I don't trust him." "Neither do I," said Mesogog, "but if he's willing to use his power to advance our goal, we will give him a chance."

On the East Side of Town Where The Red and Blue Rangers were fighting the other creature….

"Great we're on the same level with this mutant, how do we beat it?" The Blue Ranger asked. "By taking it up to the next level." Both Rangers powered up to Super Dino Mode and started getting an edge over the monster. Then the White Ranger used his speed attack on both Rangers and they fell back. The White Ranger walked next to the mutant, "Mind if I make this battle more even?" "Trust us, you're gonna need all the help you can get after that last battle," said the Blue Ranger. "I only underestimated you two at our last encounter; I promise I won't make the same mistake twice! Laser Arrows," the Red and Blue Rangers easily blocked that attack. "Is that all you got!" "Look behind you…" "Ionic Beam!" the monster launched an attacked on the Rangers which caused them to demorph out of their Super Dino Mode Form. "I think we need a new plan," said Conner. "Laser Fire," The White Ranger and the mutant were attacked by the Thundermax Saber which blinded them for few seconds as the Yellow and Black Rangers joined their teammates. "Boy, did you come at a good time," said Ethan. "Are you guys ready to finish this creep off once and for all?" said the Red Ranger. The Blue and Yellow Ranger knew what their leader had in mind, they formed the Z-Rex Blaster, at the same time all three said "Z-Rex Blaster, Fire." A blast of energy attacked the monster destroying him. The White Ranger got out of the way in time, "Oh great, I probably should have blocked that attack….I should destroy these Rangers before-"

Before the White Ranger could finish that statement Zeltrax dragged the White Ranger into an Invisi-Portal.

"And afterwards my dad refused a transfer into Area 51, he retired with full honors, and he moved to Kyoto where he makes katana because he believes it's a more "honorable" profession. Well, how was that? Funny, right?" asked Steven looking at Erica. "Your dad turned down a chance to dissect aliens and instead makes samurai swords, wow…." "C'mon, my dad did that so the military doesn't have to pretend he died in some accident or something." "So Principal Randall thinks you speak Japanese because your father lives in Kyoto, people really are dim these days, huh?" A few miles away from their location, a giant monster and a megazord formed. "Cool, now here's the fun part of the fight!" said Steven. "What's the fun part, watching two giants monster destroying the city? People could get hurt or killed," said Erica. "Use your imagination; it's like one of those Japanese movies, where the monster attacks Tokyo, except its real!" "I glad to see you're easily entertained by death and destruction." Just then the megazord destroyed the mutant monster. "Woohoo!" said Steven jumping around, "They did it, they did it, go Rangers!" In the middle of his celebrating, Steven saw Anton; he was standing on the boardwalk looking at him and Erica. "Hey, Erica, does anyone know you're here?" "No, I didn't call anyone." "Well, someone did…." said Steven pointing towards the boardwalk. Erica followed his finger to Anton. He saw that he was spotted so he started walking towards Steven and Erica. As Anton was walking towards them, Erica stood up and started brushing off the sand. "Steven, Erica…." said Anton. "Hi…Anton," was all Erica said. "Let's go, I'll drop you off at your house Steven." "Right…" said Steven.

At Mesogogs' lair, the White Ranger was being manhandled by the Tyrannodrones, "C'mon Zeltrax, I had had the Rangers where I wanted them!" "Silence, you had your order from Mesogog 'protect that mutant', that's all you had to do, and you screwed that up! For that you're being put in the punishment chamber." The Tyrannodrones tossed the White Ranger into a large container and closed the door. Zeltrax pressed some buttons on a console and the machine was charging up, when it was done charging the machine emitted electrical shocks at the White Ranger. As he was screaming in pain, mute to the outside of the container, Elsa walked up to Zeltrax. "Why are you only setting the timer for an hour, I thought the minimum was at least three?" "The White Ranger only joined us because he found out about Mercers' identity; he probably thinks that Mercer and Mesogog are one in the same. If Mercer really was in on this, the White Ranger wouldn't have been punished." "So this is a way for the White Ranger to know his place, interesting theory," said Elsa. "How do you know when Mercer comes he won't stop the punishment?" "Mercer has someone else he needs to take care of. When the Black Ranger destroyed the first mutant, he demorphed for a few minutes. He made a phone call to Mercer's cell; we all heard the conversation….."

"Do you two have any idea how I found you?" asked Anton. Erica was sitting right next to him, while Steven was sitting behind Erica. "Nope," said Steven. "Okay then, I received a phone call from a concerned citizen who told me where you were." "I doubt that…." said Erica. Anton pulled out his cellphone, dialed a few buttons and put on the speaker:

_You have one new voice message: "Hey Anton, its Tommy. You won't believe this but I just saw Erica and her friend fighting some kind of mutant monster thing. I have no idea what possessed them to do something as stupid as that, but I thought I should let you know. The Rangers got to them in time so their safe, but I just don't think it's the best idea to let them walk home by themselves from now on. I figured if you can get Erica to stop walking home, her friend might follow her example. If you want to talk more you can reach me at the school. Bye._

"Okay..." said Anton, "Satisfied?' "Are you trying to explain to us that out science teacher just watched us get knocked around by some monster?" said Steven. "What did you expect him to do? Pull out a dinosaur bone and start whacking the monster with it?" "You know what I mean Anton. If it was you, wouldn't you have tried to protect us?" "Of course I would have, but Tomm- Dr. Oliver is not a parent, the rules are different." Anton sighed, "Isn't this your house Steven?" "Yeah…" as Steven got out of the car, "See ya, tomorrow." "Bye…." said Erica.

When Anton and Erica reached the house, Erica tried to get out of the car but Anton locked the door, "In the study, we need a talk…."

Erica pulled out her pink rock, "This is a Dino Gem?" Anton nodded, "It's a powerful rock that is said to give the user unbelievable powers." "Not my rock…." said Erica. "Think…" said Anton, "think of every time you felt…different…wasn't the gem glowing?" "I didn't pull out my rock every single time I felt sick…" said Erica. "Sweetie, you need to believe me when I tell you that this gem holds some amazing power for you. Now-"

There was someone banging on the door, Anton sighed, "Trent's back…..Great…."

"So what? Unlock the door and let him in." "No, I kinda grounded him today…..and now he's pissed….Erica can we finish this conversation tomorrow when I'm dropping you off at school?" "Yeah, no problem." "Okay, let Trent in on your way out."

End of Chapter Nine

Author's Note: I spent a lot of time of this, so I hope everyone savors it. This story finally getting somewhere, yay. Some of my thoughts as I was writing…..

First off….okay I didn't go into detail about Anton experiment cause I figure everyone is familiar with the story. If you're not familiar, the episode title is "Copy That", so see the episode, it explains how Mercer turns into Mesogog.

Second I kinda wanted to get into Steven background a little bit because I want his character to be brave and having a dad who's ex-military is awesome. You have to be an awesome (or insane) boyfriend to get into a fight with a monster tag teaming with your girl. The katana is important because that will be his weapon of choice later in the story.

Third, I wasn't sure how to give Kira a big role, so saving Erica and achieving Super Dino Mode seems good enough for me.

Fourth….Ever since seeing the episode "It's a Mad Mad Mackerel" I wondered what the punishment chamber was, so that was my design for it.

Fifth and Last It important to see Trent and Mercers relationship because, we all know Mercer was cold in the beginning and then when Trent turned bad, Trent was able to dish it back out to Anton. So I wanted to show how their relationship was crumbling…..

I'll try to update another chapter next week :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Gem**

**Chapter Ten**

Erica unlocked and opened the door and saw Trent. "Rough day at the ranch?" asked Erica, "'Cause you look horrible." Trent was pale and was sweating profoundly. "Get out of my way," Trent said as he pushed Erica aside. Erica left the room, closed the door behind her, and put her ear against the door. "How 'bout that, they let you early it seems. I thought the minimum time was three hours," said Anton. Trent sat down on the couch facing Anton. "Why didn't you get me out?" "Because I told you I had no control over that situation….." "That's a lie! You could've easily have gotten me out and you didn't! You were going to let me spend the entire three hour session weren't you!" "Trent…." Anton leaned forward, "I told you to stay away from Mesogog, second I thought your uniform would put up with the electroshocks because chances are that you got hit with half the power that's normally given, and since you were only put in there about an hour or so…you got off pretty easy for a first failure." "You call that easy?" Anton shrugged, "Elsa and Zeltrax don't have the same protection as you do, and they're normally put in longer because they're repeat failures. Besides since you so badly wanted to join Mesogog team, you need to accept the consequences of the job, which includes the punishment chamber. You can easily change you mind if you're not able for it." "I think I'll stay seeing as how you approve," said Trent as he got up to leave the room. Erica back away from the door and quickly went upstairs. "One more thing…" said Anton, "Why didn't you come in through this rooms' Invisi-Portal?" Trent looked back at Anton, "I needed a walk." Trent walked out of the room. Anton sighed, "And here I thought I'd lost you for a second there." As soon as Trent closed the study door behind him he leaned back against the door, _"Why didn't I go through it? What if she saw me? Humph…I guess we both want to keep her safe."_ As Trent was leaning against the door Erica looked down at him from the stairwell, _"What the hell is going on with those two? What the hell are they involved in?"_

The next day…..

Okay Erica, where did we finish off the conversation yesterday?" Anton asked as he was getting in the car. "Umm… you said something about this rock have some kind of power that I haven't seen yet," replied Erica as she was getting on her seatbelt, "By the way what do you know about this rock? No…um…how did you find out that this rock has "powers"?" "It's a long story….." "No offense Anton, but your acting like you know the entire history of this rock and I've had this rock for a couple of years." "Right…okay, Ummmm, I've been working with this scientist and… we've been looking into these types of rocks for a few years and…" "Wait…there are more of these rocks?" Erica pulled out her Dino Gem out of her pocket and stared at it. "Yeah, this scientist and I, we have been looking for these rocks, for some time." "How many rocks are there that you two were able to find?" "Including yours…. Six." "Cool. So why don't we meet your partner after school?" "No…it's out of the question." "Huh? Why? You're the one telling me that this rock has some kind of power and for whatever reasons it's not working for me maybe you two…" "NO!" Anton stopped the car. "First off, all this info I got on the Dino Gem, I learned a few years back when these Gems were discovered, okay? Second, it was interesting then, but I haven't worked with my _partner _in a long time. He's kinda crazy and I want nothing to do with his fascination with the Dino Gems. Also, I had other obligations I needed to take care of at the time. I'm trying to stay away from that project, alright? The only reason I'm telling you_ any_ of this is because-you were right-you had no reason to trust what I had to say to you about your Dino Gem. You know my history now, this guy, _my ex-partner_; he's not a good guy. Hypothetically, he could help you, but working for him….your selling your soul to the devil." "Why would I be…?" "Everything comes with a cost, Erica. There is no way he would help, you even if it were to save your life, unless you do something for him in return," Anton started moving the car again, "You told me this rock doesn't give you any power and it makes you feel sick, right?" "Yeah…" "All those water bottles you've been chugging down, is that helping?" "Yeah…" "Keep with that treatment until it stops working, and then we'll figure the next step okay?" "Alright, but do I at least get a name besides _ex-partner _for this psychotic expert on Dino Gems." Anton pulled up to the school, "His name is…Mesogog…." "Okay…" as Erica got out of the car she turned to Anton and said, "Thanks dad," she turned around and walked to school." Anton gave a sigh of relief, "At least she's starting to trust me," said Anton to himself. _"Too bad you didn't tell her the whole truth," said Mesogog inside of Anton's head. _"Not yet," said Anton, "One step at a time…"

During Lunch…..

Erica and Steven were walking towards the back of the cafeteria where the kids playing "Dragon Wars" hung out. "So let me understand the situation, your rock is one out of six and your rock is the only one without power." "Something like that, I didn't want to press Anton for too much info, it seemed like a touchy subject. My problem is…the guy that doing this research…Mesogog…something's wrong." "Like, what?" "Anton and Trent were talking about Mesogog last night, from what I overheard, Trent works for this guy, and apparently Trent almost got killed for not doing something." "Trent almost got killed….." Steven was looking towards the other side of the cafeteria where Trent was sulking. "I don't know…the pale skin, the pissed off look….he looks normal," said Steven. "My thing is…why Anton would tell me he hasn't worked for Mesogog for some time and yet Trent works for him now." "You said it was a touchy subject, maybe Anton just doesn't want you to go to this guy. If Trent _was_ almost killed do you want to be put in that same situation? If I was Anton, I wouldn't want you working for such a dangerous guy." "I guess…." "Hey Erica, you got a minute?" Erica and Steven turned around to see Ethan getting up from a "Dragon Wars" game. "Hey Ethan, what up?" said Erica. "Can we talk in private?" "Alright, fine, see you later Steven."

As Erica was walking away, Ethan started the conversation: "So Erica, have you noticed anything strange about Trent?" "No, Trent's been acting like that since I've been here. Why?" "It's nothing but…Kira worried about him. It's just, Trents' mood swings, it's recent. I thought you would know what caused it." "What was Trent like before the mood swings?" "He was just different, that's all. I guess the complete opposite of how he's acting now." "Hmmm….Ethan….I have absolutely no idea on what to do with Trent. Why are you so concerned about him anyway?" "It's Kira…I think she still likes him." "So?" "C'mon Kira is one of my best friends." "So what do you want me to say to Trent? Tell him, that his girlfriend wants him back, but he has to change who he is?" "No…." "Look Ethan this is what normally happens to people who get their hearts broken, it's going to hurt for some time, but then…they will get over it…." Erica started feeling dizzy. "Erica, are you alright?" "Yeah, umm, Ethan, I'm sorry for Kira but she'll get over it, I've got nothing more to say." "Fine, but don't you want Trent to feel better also?" "Ethan, it has only been a few days, and I'm done talking about it. When you're willing to tell me the real reason why you want Trent and Kira back together, you let me know." As Erica walked away from Ethan she pulled out a water bottle from her bag and started drinking it. "If Ethan won't tell me, then I'll just ask someone else." Erica started walking over to Trent's table, "What do you want?" Tent asked. "I'll make this fast. Ethan wants to know when you and Kira are planning on getting back together." "Are you kidding? Why would I….Ohhh I see. He wants me on his team, huh?" "Team? Ethan doesn't play sports." "Different thing, don't worry about it. You can tell Ethan to forget it. Kira hasn't spoken to me since that day I went off on her." "Are you really going to act all childish about this?" "Erica, before you start getting involved in other people problems, why don't you worry about yourself first. 'Cause you look horrible. Your face…_really _pale" "That's why… I wanted to make this conversation….fast…." finished Erica before she fainted on the floor. "Erica? C'mon stop playing! This…isn't funny…" Trent went over to her as Steven ran over, "What happened?" said Steven. "I don't know…" said Trent lifting Erica's head on his lap, "she just collapsed!"

About an hour later…..

Anton walks into the nurses' office. "Dr. Mercer, I presume," said the nurse. "Yes, how's Erica doing?" "She has fever and she keeps slipping in and out. I want to call an ambulance but she keeps refusing, she keeps telling me that she just wants to sleep." Anton walked over to the cot Ercia was lying down in, Steven was seating right to her. "Don't you have class to go to?" "We were just talking….and then she went to talk to Ethan." "Ethan?" "Some kids in our Paleontology class, he's a computer genius or something…." "Likes wearing blue?" "Yeah….and then she went over to Trents' table and started talking to him and then she collapsed." _"So, is that what she's reacting to…." thought Anton._ "Alright Steven, I'm going to take Erica home. I promise as soon as she wakes up, I promise you'll be the first one she calls, okay?" Steven got up and went sulking back to class. "Erica…are you alright?" Anton asked as he was trying to wake her up. "Nurse, did you give her any water yet?" "No, she kept falling asleep…" "Well, I'll try giving it to her now…" Anton struggled but finally got Erica to drink the water. As soon as the cup was empty, Erica woke up. She sat up on the bed and stretched. "All this time, she was just dehydrated," murmured the nurse. "Erica, are you alright?" asked Anton. "Yeah, just have a headache." "Do you remember anything that happened?" Erica shook her head. "Alright I'm going to take you home, okay?" "Alright."

When Anton and Erica were in the car, Erica started the conversation, "I drank some water but my body wanted more….and I told myself no. I'm such an idiot." "Erica, when you feel sick, is it at school or what?" "Ummmm…Paleontology, Advanced Art, and sometimes Lunch….and after school." "Okay that makes sense…." said Anton. "What?" "Your Dino Gem is having a "connection" with the rocks, that's why it has been releasing the energy…like two magnets attracting." "So my rock is attracted to another rock, that's why it's going off?" "Yeah…." "So what happened today?" _"Right now is as good a time as any…." thought Anton. _ "You got too close to someone who had a Dino Gem…." "Ethan?" "That's my guess…." "He has a rock?" "I guess….I'm only speculating, it's a possibility." "That doesn't make sense….I only had one class with him. Okay, so I'm looking for someone who might have a rock that's been everywhere I have…..Steven….." Erica leaned her head against the headrest. _"Okay, she had it, but in her case, Steven does make the perfect candidate." _"Can we talk to your friend now?" Erica asked. "No." "So how sick do you want me to get before we do go." "I'm sorry, but it's not worth it. Look, just stay away from the people that are making you sick and you should be fine. No more monster hunting after school, just come home and do your school work and you should be fine." "Then tell me how to survive the school day? What do you want me to do, isolate myself?" "To a certain extent, yes. Do what you normally do from now on. You shouldn't have too much of an issue then." "I guess…" _"I'm sorry Erica…but you shouldn't be involved in this mess, I don't even want either of you involved in my mess but my hands are tied on that issue." _

Back at school Steven arrived in Art Class…

"Steven….." said the Art teacher, "how's Erica doing? The class is having a debate on whether Trent poisoned his sister or not. You were there, whose side are you on?" "Ummm Trent _didn't _poison his sister?" "Okay then…" the Art teacher wrote something on the board, "'Kay now the score is 30 for Trent _did_ poison his sister and 2 for Trent_ didn't _poison his sister. Thank you for your vote. You can have a seat now." Steven sat down next to Trent. "How is she?" Trent asked. "Fine, Anton taking her home." "Hmph, I wonder if she's really safe with him." "Why would you say that? Isn't he your dad?" "It's a long story. Anyway, why did you vote for my side?" "Because, I have never seen you show any emotion whatsoever this week, until that moment, when Erica fainted."

A few hours later…

"Hi, mom, I'm home." said Steven as he walked into the door. "Mooom?" "I'm in the study; I got another assignment this morning so I'll be in here for the next few days. You know where the frozen pizzas are." "Thanks, mom…" said Steven. "Stupid Pentagon making her design another virus to attack the enemy with…." He whispered to himself. "It's called Biological Warfare, sweetie," said his mother, "the Chinese used the Avon Bird Flu to try to get us, but we'll beat them back with something even stronger!" "Okay, mom…" Steven phone started ringing. Steven saw it was Erica and he answered it, "Hey Erica, how are you feeling?" "I'm okay, thanks." "Good, I was worried, Trent was worried, and the whole school thinks Trent_ poisoned_ you, but I'm glad you're alright." "Ummm Steven, I want to tell you something." "Yeah, you wanna know the homework right?" "No, umm, can you take a seat?" "Fine, whatever," Steven sat down on his couch, "happy? I'm on my comfy couch. What do you want to tell me?" "I think we need a break," said Erica, "from this relationship." "Are you kidding? Why?" "Because…I haven't been myself since I've been here. I've been trying to figure what been causing it and…" "You think it's me..." "I'm getting rid of anything that could make me sick and…" "What if the pain your feeling is in the rock?" "It's not the rock. I had been feeling this pain since I got to Reefside." "Then…what if it's something else?" "Like what?" "Like love?" "Steven…..I need _real _confirmation, it's only going to be for a little while. I'm scared of not knowing what is going on with me, and, I don't want to keep living on water bottles." "How long is this going to take?" "I don't know..." "Well keep this in mind….I won't be waiting forever." Steven hung up the phone. Steven sat on the couch, motionless. "Steven, were you able to find the frozen pizzas? Stevie…..You're gonna make me come out of this study to see you, right?" Stevens' mother walked into the living room, Steven had a grim look on his face and was gripping his phone, tightly. "Steven, what happened?" Steven screamed as he tossed his phone against the wall. Steven brushed past his mother and went into his room slamming the door behind him. "What gotten into him?" she asked herself. She walked over to his cellphone. The screen was cracked but she could see the Caller I.D. "Oh, no...He's received a "Dear John" on the phone. Poor baby….." 

At Anton House…..

Anton was outside of Erica room, overhearing the conversation Erica was having with Steven. Trent walked up the stairs and saw Anton outside of Erica's room. "I don't want to talk about today so just let me…." Trent saw Anton; he was more focused on something else. Trent walked right next to Anton and heard Erica talking to something:_ "I had been feeling this pain since I got to Reefside…."_ "What is she doing?" whispered Trent. "She's giving a "Dear John" over the phone." "And you're not going to stop her." "No,' said Anton. Trent started walking away from Anton, "Well I hope your happy, Dad, 'cause your about to make her just as miserable as I was before I found the Dino Gem." After Trent went into his room Anton started going down stairs, "This plan has to work…" said Anton, "I just hope it doesn't backfire on me…."

End of Chapter Ten

Note: Story's just getting started. I know this chapter might be boring without any action scenes but I'll try to fix that for the next chapter. I'm trying to figure out how Erica will meet Mesogog but it's a working progress. I apologies ahead of time to the people who were insult over the Bird Flu explanation, I just need an example to explain "Biological Warfare." I'm sure the Chinese gov't had nothing to do with the virus. See everyone next week.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Gem**

**Chapter Eleven**

_It's been a week since Erica broke up with Steven and she has now starting breaking Anton's curfew again. Trent and Zeltrax are fighting for Mesogogs' attention while Elsa believes she has figured out what have been causing Erica's energy level to go up. _

At Mesogogs Lair…..

"Alright Elsa what do you want this time? I thought it was your turn to send a monster down to Reefside?" said the White Ranger with Zeltrax right behind him. "I'm _so_ sorry to interrupt your sparring boys but I finally finished the Intel of your sister." "And we should care why?" asked Zeltrax. "Because _I _called you here so you should." The two of them turned around to see Mesogog. "Any more questions?' he asked. "Go right ahead, Elsa," said Zeltrax. The White Ranger and him took a step back. "Alright, I think what's been causing the energy spikes has been the Dino Gems." Elsa turns on a couple of videos of Erica fighting, "Look at scene when she fighting the White Ranger, her energy level shoots up." "That doesn't prove anything," said the White Ranger, "that could easily be a twin thing or something." "But with about this video…." Elsa puts up a video of Erica fighting a monster. "Her energy level is significantly lower than when she was fighting you….this is still high on the human scale. It's only when the Rangers came….Elsa fast forwards the video…. "That we are able to see her energy level go up significantly." "So the Dino Gems is responsible for this rising energy level, but why?" said Zeltrax. "Not every human is getting a spiked energy reading when they're near the Dino Gems, it's only her," finished the White Ranger. Elsa shot them a look. "My theory is the White Dino Gem energy has rubbed off on her and since she closely related to you DNA wise, and she is suffering from this energy." "You're trying to tell me that Erica is suffering because some renegade energy is escaping from me and hitting her?" asked the White Ranger. Elsa nodded. The White Ranger and Zeltrax exchanged glances. "Okay," said the White Ranger, "I can buy that reason…." He started walking towards Elsa and took the remote from her. The White Ranger fast forward the video of Erica's fights until he paused at one scene he wasn't in. "Now I wasn't in this fight, and according to your logic, she suffering from this spiked energy because my energy is rubbing off on her, so how can I be doing this if I'm not here in this picture?" Elsa sneered and swiped the remote back. "Because," she started, "she hasn't just been hit with the energy on the battlefield, she been hit with the energy when she was at home!" "That's fine," said the White Ranger, "so then at home she is absorbing my energy, since I'm there and all, but at the same time since I'm there she should be at shooting off this energy." "Wait, can we take it a step back I'm a bit lost….." asked Zeltrax.

"Okay, fine…" said the White Ranger walking away from Elsa. "She claims that I have some extra energy, and this energy has been rubbing off on Erica, right?" Elsa nodded. "Okay," the White Ranger continued, "this rubbed off energy Erica has, this is what Erica has been using in her fights, this is what Elsa calls her "energy spikes". So, Elsa claims that Erica is getting the energy from me when I'm at home and at the battlefield, these energy spikes happen when the either the Rangers or me are near her, correct?" "Oh no..." murmured Elsa realizing the flaw in her logic. "Yes," said the White Ranger, "if she has these energy spikes when she near me then I can't be giving off the energy to her because at the same time as she is being hit with my energy, she is already having an energy spike. According to Elsa, by me Erica is both taking by energy and releasing it at the same time, since there is no way Erica can store this energy she has been getting from me Erica has to be getting her energy from somewhere else..." The White Ranger stops for a second to think. "Well, this isn't my job to figure out; it's Elsa's, can Zeltrax and I resume what we were going to do today?" asked the White Ranger. Mesogog looked at the White Ranger, lost in thought, after a minute Mesogog nodded his approval. "Let's go," said Zeltrax as the White Ranger and him left the lab. Elsa was breathing heavily trying to calm herself; she was so enraged she forgot Mesogog was still in the lab with her. "It's all right…." said Mesogog. Those words brought Elsa back to reality, she turned around to face Mesogog when he said, "I know what been causing that girls' energy spikes."

At a beach at an unknown location, Zeltrax and the White Ranger appeared from an Invisi-Portal. They each walked to the opposite ends of the beach. "Do you know the rules or do I need to repeat myself?" asked Zeltrax. "Don't worry; the winner of this duel will be Mesogogs second in command, without question," said the White Ranger pulling out his Drago-Sword. "Good," said Zeltrax as he pulled out his sword. And the duel began…..

Elsa was stunned when Mesogog revealed the truth to her, "There's a sixth Dino Gem? How come my sensors haven't been reading it?" "Because we didn't know it existed until recently, thanks to Mercer. Since he's threating me every second, I can't get her to join, unless the White Ranger leaves us. Her Dino Gem power is weakening her because she can't control it. She'll have to come to us, sooner or later, and Mercer knows this." "Mercer is making you choose which one you want, the girl or her brother….Heh, and here I though he was a nice guy." Elsa picked up the remote to the White Ranger fight with Zeltrax, "Oh, boy, Zeltrax is gonna lose this fight for sure." "That's it…." said Mesogog. "What?" Elsa asked. Mesogog turned to face her, "Don't tell Zeltrax any of this….he is going to solve this problem for us."

During class, Erica was barely listening to Dr. Oliver lecture on the T-Rex. _"Okay, I need to wean myself off the water, I don't need it…I only think I need it."_ Erica was holding her pen with her left hand and gripping the Dino Gem in the right pocket with her free hand. "Erica," said Dr. O, "repeat back to what I just said." Erica sighed and looked up at him, "You said the T-Rex is large, it has nothing compared to the Spinosaurus and Giganotosaurus." "Good. As I was saying…" Erica shut her eyes tightly, _"Just a few more hours to go….I can do it"_ When Erica opened her eyes she was looking at Steven, he was on the other side of the room but he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at the board. Erica pulled out her water bottle and took a sip. After school Erica was walking with Conner, Ethan, and Kira. "So why are you guys walking home with me? I don't need a babysitter." "We figure you needed to talk to someone, you haven't seemed like yourself since last week when you stopped sitting next to Steven," said Conner. "Was I really that different?" "Yeah, you looked like a Snake-Mongular Warrior that has just seen the Siren," said Ethan. "Well I guess you have Kira for a model, so I can't say you're wrong," said Erica as she ran ahead. Before Conner and Ethan can catch up with Erica, Kira cuts in their way. "What did she mean by that?" asked Kira. "Not now Kira, Dr. O says we have to watch her in case another monster comes after her," said Conner. "What did she mean!" "Geez Kira, you haven't been the same since you saw Trent turn into the White Ranger admit it already," said Ethan. Kira turned red in the face. Conner tries to keep Erica in his sights, "Alright now can we please go catch up with Erica before-" A huge explosion takes place a few blocks away. "Oh, no…" said Conner, "that where she was headed…." "Let's go!" said Kira running towards the blast with Conner and Ethan following her.

"So why are we sending in another monster to attack the girl if we know what's been causing her energy spikes?" Elsa asked Mesogog. "This week… I haven't been sending the monsters to see her energy spikes but instead I'm using the monsters to train her." "What? Why?" "So when she does join us we don't need to go through the basics, we would only need to teach her how to use her Ranger Powers." "Then Zeltrax is planning to…." "Exactly…." finished Mesogog.

Erica dodged the monster's blast then she ran up to the monster and quickly jabbed the monster a dozen and so times before she backs off. The monster left off a series of attacks which Erica dodged gracefully. As Conner, Ethan, Kira ran up to the site of the fight, they saw Steven. He was leaning against a building watching the fight intensely. "Hey, dude…." said Ethan to Steven, "You gonna run?" "No…." said Steven, his voice was stern without any feeling in it. "You gonna at least help your girlfriend?" asked Conner. "No." "Then why are you here?" asked Kira. He started walking toward the fight, "I have a vendetta against that monster so if you'll excuse me." All three of them saw Steven wearing some sort of scabbard. "Are you nuts?" asked Kira. Conner and Ethan held her back. "There is only one way we can stop this," said Conner.

The second Erica let up on her attack, Steven charged in pulling out his katana and starting slashing the monster with it. Both Erica and the monster were caught off guard by the attack. "This is for ruining my life!" Steven said with the first slash of the sword. "This is for hurting all those people!" Steven said with the second slash. "And this is for destroying the only sense of happiness I ever had!" screamed Steven with his third and final attack. The monster was injured but not destroyed. "Heh, you're gonna have to do better than that!" said the monster, "Hey girl, I bet your feeling tired right about now, why don't you get some water or something." Erica was caught in a daze, _"Did he really just say that?" she thought, "did I… really make him happy?"_ The monster saw it wasn't getting a response from her so it aimed an attack at her. Before it could hit Erica, Steven deflected it with his sword. Steven gripped his sword tightly murmuring to himself, "I'm not done with you yet…." Erica shook herself awake and she saw the Red, Yellow, and Blue Rangers run towards the fight, she looked to Steven who was in front of her, "Yes you are…." She whispered to herself as she attacked Steven with the Vulcan Nerve Pinch in which Steven collapsed in front her. "Uhhh…." the monster started to say, "I thought he was on your side…?" Erica put Steven's katana away, "He was until I dumped him…." Erica picked Steven up over her shoulders and started to run, "Good luck with the Rangers, you're gonna need it!" Erica said as she fled with the unconscious Steven.

Erica ran with Steven as far as the beach, "Right, this is Reefside, we're surrounded by beaches….." Erica murmured to herself as she lays Steven on the beach. Erica took off her hoodie and went to the water to soak it. She put her drenched hoodie on Steven's head and waited for him to come to. Erica could still hear something screaming from the ocean, but Steven waking up was more important to her at that moment. "Okay...so I'm not crazy, there is something out there. I'll need to address this issue sooner rather than later." Steven was beginning to regain his sight, but everything was all blurry, _"What happened?" he thought to himself, "I was facing the monster and then something got me from behind, but that was….."_ Stevens' vision started to focus and he saw Erica hovering over him, before any words were exchanged Steven punched Erica in the mouth. As Erica stumbled back, Steven pulled out his katana screaming, "I didn't need you to intervene, that was my fight, MINE!" Erica was holding her hand to her mouth but Steven just returned his sword and ran away from her. Erica was trying to stop the bleeding and her tears but to no avail.

Zeltrax returned to Mesogogs lair battered from the fight but the only person that was there was Elsa, and she was laughing at the screen. "What's so funny?" asked Zeltrax. "Your fight….." Elsa tried to compose herself but the laughter seeped through, "You….hah….lost…so…badly to him! Ha ha ha." "That isn't funny!" "Yes it is, you're the one who challenged the White Ranger, you thought you could win…..ha….but you lost!" "I don't have time for this!" Zeltrax walked to the Geno Randomizer and clicked a few buttons. A chameleon looking monster walked out of the machine, "I am Copy That!" "Are you kidding?" asked Elsa. "This monster will destroy the White Ranger for me, I'm sure of it!" answered Zeltrax. He walked over to the monster, "I have an assignment for you…."

The next day…..

The Rangers were battling the chameleon monster that Zeltrax sent. "I don't get it!" said the Blue Ranger, "What makes this monster tougher than the other monsters we fought." The Black Ranger ran up to the Blue Ranger, "This guy can adapt to each of us individually, this monster has an advantage over each of us." The Red and Yellow Ranger were fighting the monster but none of their attacks were working. "Will you please give up already! I already told you for like the millionth time that I wasn't after you guys!" "Fine then," said the Black Ranger, "Who are you after?" The monster readied a stance, "Here is my secret move!" The monster morphed into the Black Ranger, "See I look like you, _I can even talk like you_, and I have all your powers," the monster turned into its regular form. "I can do this for the four of you, but I don't want any of your powers, I want someone else's." "Whose?" demanded the Red Ranger.

Just then the White Ranger performed his speed attack on the monster. After the attack the White Ranger landed on a nearby rooftop, "Well, well, another useless monster from the lab. How am I going to take you out?" The chameleon monster just started jumping up and down, "Finally! Yes, yes, yes!" The monster let out some sort of flash attack at the White Ranger, when the light subsided the monster was gone. "Not another light attack, I'm still recovering from the last four!" said the Blue Ranger still disoriented. The White Ranger shook his head, "That was weird. I'm outta here," The White Ranger said as he disappeared. "Guys, can you read me?" Hayley said through the communicator. "Yeah Hayley, we read ya," said the Black Ranger. "Get back to the hideout. I have some info on the monster."

"So what's the deal with the monster wanting to _shine_ a light at us and at the White Ranger?" asked Conner. "Yeah," said Kira, "I thought they were on the same side?" "Well…." said Hayley clicking on the computer, "it seems when the monster shined the light on you guys, he copied you." "What?" said Conner. "Yea….it's seems the light is kinda the same as on a copy machine, the monster pretty much made a copy of you guys and it can transform into you whenever he wants." "Well then we better deal with this monster before it frames for something we didn't do," said the Black Ranger. "Wait a minute," said Ethan, "The monster _told_ us it wasn't looking for us; it was looking for someone else. Was anyone noticing something was off when it got a little_ too_ excited when the White Ranger showed up?" "Okay, so the monster was looking for the White Ranger… why?" Conner asked.

"Are you trying to say to me Zeltrax that you can't locate your monster?" asked Mesogog. "My lord, it seems I can only locate the monster when it is in its original form. When it changes into one of its copied forms then it goes off the radar," replied Zeltrax. "You had better find it," said Mesogog, "I want an explanation as to why it didn't destroy the Rangers yet, understood?" "Yes, my lord." "Don't bother, it's already destroyed…." Mesogog and Zeltrax both saw the _White Ranger_ come out of the shadows, "That was probably _weakest_ monster you have ever created," said the _White Ranger_. "How dare you!" said Zeltrax pulling out his sword. "Really, are you ready to lose again…Heh. I'm not here for you Zeltrax," said the _White Ranger_. "Then why are you here?" "To give you my resignation…." said the _White Ranger. _Then the _White Ranger_ launched his Laser Arrows on Mesogog's lab, by the time either Mesogog or Zeltrax could respond, the lab was nearly destroyed and the _White Ranger _was gone. "Traitor…." said Mesogog, "Bring him to me now!" "Yes, my lord," said Zeltrax leaving the lab.

Elsa entered the damaged lab after Zeltrax left, "So what did I miss?" she asked. "Zeltrax thinks he has me convinced that the White Ranger has gone _renegade_ on us." "So Zeltrax goes after the White Ranger, when the White Ranger figures out that we don't need him any more…." "She ours…." finished Mesogog.

End of Chapter Eleven

Note: I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, my school work has caught with me. This will be my last chapter until Spring Break which is around April 6 so hang on

So lets' see….The Vulcan Nerve Pinch I think belongs to _Star Trek_ although I think I have seen Uncle on _Jackie Chan Adventures_ use it, but anyway this isn't mine. As far as I know you can't use this attack in real life so don't try it at home. I skipped the fight between Zeltrax and the White Ranger because you guys can see on the episode "It's a Mad Mad Mackerel"

_White Ranger_ is written like this means it wasn't Trent but the chameleon monster, I thought the monster would look better as a chameleon than as a pepper throwing monster, but that's just me.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Gem**

**Chapter Twelve**

On the other side of town while the Rangers were busy fighting Copy That, Erica decided that this was the day she was going to meet whatever it was that was in the ocean. She was on the edge of the beach, "Alright no time like the present." Erica took off her jeans where she wore shorts underneath and she pulled off her t-shirt to reveal a tank-top. Erica took out her Dino Gem and put it in her short's pocket. She took off her shoes and ran into the water. She swam for about 2km in the water but she couldn't see anything, "I don't get it? Where is the sound coming from?" Erica looked down into the ocean, "Maybe…." Erica dived into the water; she knew she only had about a minute of air. As she went deeper she started feeling funny, she stopped swimming but then she exhaled. She knew something was wrong, she wasn't flailing for oxygen; she was able to breathe the water. She saw her Dino Gem glowing and she pulled it out. "Is this rock been making me breathe underwater? This stupid rock…." Erica didn't know how long the rock was going to allow her to breathe underwater so she decided to go up to the surface. When she reached the shoreline Erica couldn't stop breathing heavily, "This didn't happen, I…didn't….breathe…underwater…." Erica closed her eyes and fell asleep.

On the South Side of town, the White Ranger took a rest on an abandoned construction site. The White Ranger was leaning against a crane machine pondering to himself, "Why would that monster want to flash at me, I can understand the Rangers but…." "Hold it right there traitor!" Zeltrax appeared with a least a dozen Tyrannodrones behind him. "Zeltrax…" said the White Ranger, "Care for a rematch? Unless you give me half the Tyrannodrones on your side, I don't want them in the match." "Heh, you thought you could get away with betraying us! I won't let you get away!" "What are you talking about? Why would I betray you guys?" "How should I know, one minute Mesogog and I were talking about finishing off the Rangers and then the next minute you come strolling in offering your resignation and then you tried to assassinate Mesogog and myself, but you screwed up and you will pay for that!" Zeltrax launched a lighting attack at the White Ranger which the White Ranger quickly dodged. "Zeltrax, you have to believe me, I never would betray you guys! I must've been framed." "We have you on camera White Ranger; it was you without a doubt!" _"If I can get rid of the White Ranger I will be Mesogogs number two again, I can't fail this assignment!"_ "Tyrannodrones, attack!" The Tyrannodrones went after the White Ranger, as he was fighting the Tyrannodrones off one at a time, Zeltrax was able to sneak behind the White Ranger. "Perish!" Zeltrax launched another lighting attack, the White Ranger was able to dodge most of the attack but a significant part of the attack hit him on his morpher. The White Ranger de-morphed back into Trent. "Surrender White Ranger! You are powerless now." "You sure about that, you've obviously forgotten my Dino Gem power." Trent quickly became invisible. "No!" screamed Zeltrax. "I can't let him get away!" Elsa appeared from an Invisi-Portal a few feet away from Zeltrax. "Zeltrax, Mesogog calls off the search. We have a new assignment for you." Zeltrax turned around to Elsa, "Why? There's a chance-" "I doubt the White Ranger will interfere with us any longer, I'll show you the damaged you've caused to him later, as of right now….We need your Copy That for an assignment."

Back on the beach, Erica woke up. She sat on the beach looking into the horizon, the sun was setting into the water, "I didn't breathe underwater, I didn't breathe underwater, wait didn't Dad say that this Dino Gem would be giving me some kind of power. Hmmm, I guess this is the power he was talking about. I need to get home and tell him." As Erica put on her jeans and shirt she saw a figure out in the distance, which started running towards her. Erica got a closer look at the figure she recognized the figure as the _Yellow Ranger_. The _Ranger_ was only a few feet from Erica when it stopped running. As they looked at each other, Erica smiled, "I thought you only came around when I was fighting a monster." _The Yellow Ranger_ took out her Ptera Grips and formed a fighting stance. "You need to pay for all those people you've hurt!" screamed the _Yellow Ranger_. Erica was surprised by her accusation, "What are you talking about? I've never hurt anyone." The _Yellow Ranger _began to attack Erica but Erica was too quick, she dodged each of the _Yellow Ranger _attacks. "Liar!" she screamed, "How many people do you think got hurt in the cross fire when you went off attacking those monsters?" Erica blocked and countered the _Yellow Rangers_ attack, "Are you kidding? First off those fights were in self-defense, second, how many people have you and your buddies hurt when you get into that megazord of your, huh? I can admit that some people may have gotten hurt, but my numbers have to be far lower than yours." The_ Yellow Ranger_ pulled out her Thundermax Saber and shot out a couple of blasts at Erica. She was pushed back a few feet from the blast. As Erica picked herself up the _Yellow Ranger_ walked slowly towards her with her Thundermax Saber trained on her. They locked eyes for a second when suddenly the _Yellow Ranger_ was consumed with a blast. Erica shielded her eyes from the blast, when the light subsided, the _Yellow Ranger _was gone.

Elsa was on top of a cliff about twenty feet above the fight between _the Yellow Ranger_ and Erica. "Sorry Copy That, but your job is done here" said Elsa holding a some sort of ray gun. "Okay Mesogog will be here soon so I better get the ball rolling." Elsa jumped down from the cliff and landed in front of Erica. She was breathing heavily from her fight. "Sorry about the surprise, I didn't think I had enough time to warn you to get out the way," said Elsa. Erica was shaking her head, "You didn't have to go that far….you didn't have to…." "Ohhh you think I destroyed _her_, huh? I guess it looked that bad from your view. See this ray gun; it's a type of teleportation gun. I just blasted _her_ across the city. Why do you even care if _she_ is alive or dead? It wasn't like _she _was going to let you go home or anything." "That didn't mean she couldn't have been talked out of it. Alright, she's still alive at least that what matters right now. Thanks for _teleporting_ her or whatever you did." As Erica turned away from Elsa, "Wait, I actually wanted to talk to you. Since I just saved your life I'd figure you'd give me a second." Erica sighed, "Do I at least get a name?" "Elsa." "Erica. So what did you want to talk about, Elsa?"

Erica walked over towards the cliffs and sat down on a nearby rock. "My master has had an eye on you for some time…." "Why would your master be interested in me?" "An old _partner_ contacted him some time ago about your situation." "My situation?" "Your _Dino Gem _situation." Erica stared at Elsa, "I take it then your master is Mesogog." "Yes." "So what does Mesogog want with me? Mind you, my dad didn't put him in a good light." "What if I told you that Mesogog could solve your Dino Gem problem?" "And what if I told you that my dad said 'if I put my trust with Mesogog I'm selling my soul'." Elsa clenched her fist, _"I better try a different approach."_ "Well Erica what would you expect? Mesogog would be wasting a lot of his resources to save your life; I think giving your loyalty to Mesogog would nothing compared to what you're asking of him to do." "Saving my life? What…what are you talking about?" Elsa smiled, "Your father, Anton Mercer, didn't tell you? That Dino Gem is destroying you from the inside out. Have you ever felt pain from the Dino Gem…have you curled up in agony because of the rock? Well, that's the Dino Gem's power doing that to you." Erica turned pale, "No…my dad said…." "That the Dino Gem has some power right?" Erica looked up at Elsa. "Listen….the Dino Gem only has power, no….it can reach its maximum power in its purified form and currently your Dino Gem is in a Raw Stage, where its power is unpredictable." "So let's say I believe you, then why would my dad not tell me this?" "Probably he is trying to find the correct method to turn your Dino Gem pure, but this process isn't easy, especially since he has no samples to try the experiment out on. If…." "You're minute's up Elsa." Erica stood up and started walking away but a horrific voice froze her.

"_I will only say this once this arrangement is a one-time deal, if you walk away from it, you will never be offered is chance again."_ Erica turned around to face Elsa but she was turned, facing a cave. _"This must be Mesogog," _thought Erica. "What kind of guarantee do I get for siding with you guys? How do I know you aren't going to take my gem and leave me?" "The gem chooses its user and it's you, we can't change that. Look, Mercer told you that you'd be selling your soul, but we only want you working for us when we need you, when we need your power. You can have a life, go to school, do what you want; all we are asking is that when we call to do an assignment we expect you to complete it." "What kind of power does this gem have, that you want me to use? I've only seen that I can breathe underwater." "That's one power, out of many that Gem has, we can unlock the rest for you. But we need you on our team first." "And if my dad really is working on an experiment to fix me?" The voice was definitely coming from the cave, _"How long do you think it will take you complete a major experiment, drug research alone takes about ten years, what Anton Mercer is doing is on a completely other scale. You will be dead from the Raw power of the Gem before he will get a quarter of his experiment complete." _Erica put her hand into her pocket and felt her Dino Gem, _"Die or get better and all I have to do is do some work for these guys in return….Why was dad so worried about…..Probably his guy ego not wanting me to go to Mesogog." _

"Have you made your choice?" said Elsa. "Just one question, I like to see what the hell I'm getting into, so why is Mesogog holed up in that cave?" A figure stepped out of the cave, even though there was little light shining on Mesogog, you can easily make out that he wasn't human. Erica focused her eyes to see Mesogog; he was some sort of reptilian human-hybrid thing. Erica took a step back, "That's…. that's…." "Lord Mesogog, yes," finished Elsa. Erica stared at her and then _it…him_. _"If you're wondering, your father did this. That's what puzzled me about you trusting your father, if this is what he can do to a friend during one of his experiments, what kind of damage can he do to you, his own daughter?"_ Erica forced herself to stop shaking, "I want a guarantee right now: do you know how to turn my Dino Gem from Raw to Pure?" Mesogog nodded. "Then let's do this," said Erica.

Trent entered the house, battered form his fight from Zeltrax, but it wasn't the fight that caused him the most damage, it was his Dino Gem. Trent screamed out in pain with the White Dino Gem shining. "DAD? Where are you?" Trent collapsed in the hallway, _"What did Zeltrax do to my Dino Gem? It's like its gone haywire or something…." _"DAD!" Trent was breathing heavily, "He's not home….I can't believe it…I need him to fix this….and he's not…." Trent fainted on the hallway floor.

Erica was unconscious on a Life Force Extractor Chair while Elsa and Mesogog were working on the Pink Dino Gem. Zeltrax entered the lab, "Did you have to destroy Copy That? It was probably the best monster I have ever created!" "Well then, you made one good one; make another," said Elsa. Zeltrax turned around and saw Erica sleeping, "Why is she here?" "She just volunteered to join our side, I needed to destroy Copy That to lower her guard," said Elsa. "How do you plan to stop her from betraying us? The White Ranger had no trouble." "Simple," said Mesogog turning around to face Zeltrax. "With this bangle I am able to control the Pink Dino Gem energy level at my whim." "How were you able to do that?" "I don't even know how it happened, a piece just broke off, but it was small enough to not cause significant damage to the whole Gem," said Elsa, "Alright I think we're done," she said as she held up a morpher. "Took long enough, Mercer been fighting me for some time."

A few hours later after Trent fainted; Anton came through the Invisi-Portal with Erica in his arms. He put Erica on the couch and felt her forehead, "I better get you an ice-pack, I don't know how long you'll last being this quiet." Anton left his study, when he closed the door behind him, he saw Trent lying down on the floor, "Trent!" Anton ran over to him and shook him awake, 'Trent what happened?" Trent's eyes were opened but he was a bit out of it, "Hey dad, took your time, huh? I've been waiting…." Anton put one of Trent's arms over his shoulder and he helped walk Trent up the stairs into his room. Anton laid Trent down on Trent's bed. Trent was breathing heavily, "Zeltrax did something to my morpher, my Dino Gem been acting up, I've been morphing in and out of the White Ranger, I can't control it anymore." Anton took a look at the morpher, "The damage is settled, Dino Gem is still active through." "Great, whose team am I on now? I apparently double cross you, so that's out of the question." "Let's discuss that later, Trent. Right now I need to sleep, alright? I think you need to take a step back and calm down. I'll be up to check on you later." "Yeah, see-ya," said Trent as he rolled over. Anton went downstairs and back into his study. Erica wasn't on the couch anymore; she wasn't even in the room. "Where could she have gone in her state?"

About a mile away, Steven's mom was answering the door. When she opened the door she saw a petit girl at her door, she might've been around her son's age. "Let me guess…are you Erica?" "Yeah, is Steven home?" "Yeah…" "Can I talk to him?" "Sweetie it's three in the morning…." "Yeah and I could've broken into Steven room to talk to him instead of asking for your permission…." "Touché…give me a minute." The front door was closed but she could hear the conversation: _'Stevie someone wants to see you….' 'Mom its 3 o' clock who the hell wants to see me?' 'Your ex-girlfriend who else?' 'Erica's here! Damn….' 'Do you want me to send her away…..' 'No I'll talk to her.' _Steven opened up the door he was wearing _Naruto _boxers, "What do you want?" "I like your boxers." "You came to wake me up at three in the morning to talk about my boxers?" "No…ummm" Erica bowed before Steven. "You came to show me an Ojigi?" "You were right. I'm sorry for everything." "What happened?" "It way too complicated to explain right now. I just want you know that you were right and I was wrong. See ya." Erica turned to leave. "Does this mean we're together again?" "Erica turned around, "I don't know, are you still waiting?" Steven closed the front door; his mother was leaning against the hallway wall, "Well?" "She came to apologies, she said I was right and she was wrong." "She must be running a fever poor dear. So does this mean you're back together?" "I don't know…." "Baby if a woman came to admit she's wrong, she's special. It's one thing to tell yourself that your wrong, but it's another thing completely to show that to someone else, got it?"

Erica walked into the house, when she closed the door, Anton came to the top of the stairs, "Where were you?" "Out." "Out where?" "Just out, I needed to clear my head." Erica walked into the kitchen with Anton following her. "We need to talk." "Another one?" Erica poured herself a glass of water and sat down on a chair. "Erica…how much of what Mesogog said to you did you believe?" "Some of it….I mean, I knew they were intentionally being vague on my job and everything and…..wait a minute, how the hell did I get back home?" "I took you home." "How did you know where I was?" "You don't think Mesogog would've called to brag about my failure as a dad and as a scientist." "He what?" "Yeah, he called to tell me how much I failed as a father that I couldn't protect you from this Dino Gem business and I'm a failure as a scientist because I couldn't save you, he had to." "How true was Mesogog experiment?" "That was me, yes…But I learned since then, I'm not going to repeat that mistake again." "What does this mean, now that I joined Mesogogs team?" "That is what we are going to talk about right now."

End of Chapter 12

Author Note: Sorry for the delay, Spring Break Fever. I will try to update another chapter ASAP. Also for all you non-Japanese speakers…..  
><em>"Ojigi (bowing) is an essential part of Japanese daily life. People bow when saying hello, thanking someone, apologizing, saying good-bye and introducing themselves. Although shaking hands (akushu) has become accepted as a form of greeting, many Japanese still are not used to it." .<em>

_._


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Gem**

**Chapter Thirteen**

A few days later at Hayley's Cyber Café…

Hayley was mixing drinks when Conner, Ethan, and Kira walked up to her. "Hey guys, what's up?" "So, on a level of one to ten how much do you trust Trent?" asked Conner. "Let's see, over the past few days, he asked for his job back and is doing overtime…..maybe 110%," replied Hayley. "C'mon Hayley, for real." said Ethan. "I am being real, since Trent was under the _evil gem _I have been overworked and behind on my work. Now since Trent been back I'm actually catching up. I take it you guys are going to need more convincing…" "That an understatement….." said Kira. "Hey Hayley, we need two more tropical shakes and a smoothie." Trent walked up to the table and put his tray down. "Coming up," said Hayley. "Hey guys, what's up?" "You seem to be in a better mood since you turned good again," said Conner. "Are you kidding, I feel like my old self, and no more voices telling me to destroy everything in sight." "Good cause we missed the good Trent…especially Kira," said Ethan. Kira punched Ethan on the shoulder. "Thanks you guys, I really appreciate it." "Trent, are you coming to practice later?" said Conner. "Yeah, I told Dr. O I would be a little late." "Ok, that's cool. C'mon guys let's go." When Conner, Ethan, and Kira left the Café, Trent turned towards Hayley, "They don't trust me do they?" "Nope." Trent gave a heavy sigh. "They just need more time; it's only been a few days." "I know, but still…." "Hayley put the drink on the tray, "Off you go." "Thanks Hayley." As Trent was walking over with the drinks he thought to himself, _"Maybe they're skeptical that Mesogog and Zeltrax betrayed me? Maybe they need a few more days."_

At the school library….

"Alright, a 10 sentence report on what we will do in Japan, any ideas Erica?" asked Steven. "Ummmm…._wa ta shi wa ki yo o to ni i ki ma su."_ "Okay, we are going to Kyoto, what else?" "wa ta shi wa sushi wo ta be ma su." "Okay we are going to eat some sushi, what else?" "You come up with the next example after all _your_ half Japanese…" "You're the one that made up that rumor! I'm 100% American….110% since my dad was in the military!" "Whatever you say, Steven." Just then Erica phone was vibrating. Erica pulled out her phone and checked the caller ID, it was Elsa. "Damn…." "Work?" "Yeah, ever since Anton hooked me up I can't get away from my boss, she's nuts." 'Aren't all bosses? I think the universe doesn't want us together. Why don't you ignore it?" "Dad would ground me for the rest of my life…." _"And that guy would come after me."_ Erica answered the phone, "I'm in the middle of something…." "Are you now? The boss wants to promote you…" said Elsa. "Oh? And what would be my new position?" "You get to be in charge of a mission by yourself." "Are you kidding?" "No, and you get to order around a mutant too. Get to the lab ASAP." "Okay fine, I'll be there." Erica hung up the phone. Steven signed, "Let me guess you're leaving again. You know, this project is due tomorrow." "I know, work is only a few hours, as soon as I get out, I'll be at your place tonight alright. Bring the paper we worked on, okay?" "Yea, Yea." As Erica was getting up from the table she whispered, "wa ta shi wa wo mi ta i de su." "Thank you," said Steven as he was scribbling on a paper _I want to see Mt. Fuji. _After Erica left the library, Steven phone started vibrating, "Of course…." Steven answered his phone, "Hello?" "THANK GOD! WE HAVE A SITUATION HERE!" "Cassidy, what a surprise….." "Don't patronize me! Bring your camcorder to the Mall ASAP!" "How do you know I have a…." "We took film class together, remember! We'll be waiting!" Steven hung up the phone and started to collect his thing, _"Wait a minute…we'll be waiting? What happened to Devin's camera?"_

At Mesogog lair….

As the Pink Ranger entered Mesogog lair, she noticed Elsa working on a computer. "Took your time getting here, huh?" asked Elsa. "Hey, you're the one who said I can have a life. So, were you serious?" "About what?" "About me heading up a mission…" "Yup. Don't worry I'll tell you what you need to do, I just won't be there to tell you _how_ to do it, understood?" "Ummm are you sure about this, I mean it's …" "It's a bit premature, your right; it is. You've only been training a few days in your uniform, but what Mesogog says, goes. And He wants to see what you can do. Don't screw up now."

At the mall…..

Steven walked into the mall, "Okay…if I were Cass-" "Steven!" Cassidy glomped Steven, "You have your video camera, right?" "Yeah…." "IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou." Steven pushed Cassidy away, "Please don't do that again." Devin walked up to the two of them. "So," said Steven, "Why did you need…" "Devin!" said Cassidy pointing to Devin, "Lent his camera to his sister again!" "Cass, I told you-" "Not now Devin! So since we're missing a camcorder and since you're not together with Erica anymore-" "We are back together Cassidy; in fact, I had to cancel my plans with Erica, just to meet you guys." _"A bit of a white lie but let's see where it goes…."_ Cassidy eyes widened. "See Cass, I told you they got back together, you weren't paying attention, were you?" asked Devin. "Never mind!" "Both of you follow moi!" Cassidy said as she left the mall. Devin and Steven were following behind her, with Steven passing on his video camera to Devin, "Say Dev, you saw me and Erica together over the past the few days, right?" "Yeah man, you guys were sitting across from us. I know Cass is a little out out there, but…" "Don't worry, man, I just wanted to know if people knew yet, ya know?" "Well, I know if that's anything." "Yeah, it is." Cassidy was standing a few feet ahead, "Devin, get your camera over here! Wait, you don't have your camera-." "It's okay Cassidy," said Devin setting up the camera. Steven walked up to them, "What are you guys…?" Steven saw where Devin was filming, next to the pier, there was someone dressed as a Pink Power Ranger; with a monster right next is her. This Pink Ranger seemed to be moving the water kinetically from the ocean to land. "Is that… a Pink Ranger?" asked Steven. "Looks like it, man." Replied Devin, "It's strange, I didn't know they came in pink." "Shhh!" said Cassidy. "Just film, Devin."

The Pink Ranger was moving the water from the ocean to the land, she looked to the monster, "So, any idea how I'm supposed to flood Reefside? I'm not moving a lot of water at this rate, just a couple of feet. Each time I'm doing this, I'm losing a lot of power." "Elsa did say I could hit you with my beam and something should happen…" "Yeah, no offense, but I don't trust you that well…" The Pink Ranger moved some more water onto the land. "Well at this rate Reefside should be flooded in…I don't know…three years' time?" "Yoo-hoo! Pink Ranger! Over here," screamed Cassidy. "Cass, what in God's name are you doing? Are you trying to get us spotted?" said Steven. "No," said Cassidy, "I'm trying to get the Pink Ranger to face the camera." The Pink Ranger and the River Monster turned to face three teenagers, "Oh no…." murmured the Pink Ranger, _"It's Cassidy, Devin, and….Steven. What are they doing here!"_ "Should I get rid of them?" asked the River Monster. "No," replied the Pink Ranger, "They either can't interfere or they won't, you need your strength for when the other Rangers get here. Just ignore them they're go away soon enough." The Pink Ranger and the River Monster resumed to what they were doing. "Awww, come on!" said Cassidy. "Allow me," said Steven. He tried running up to the Pink Ranger but the monster held up a trident to Steven, "Not so fast!" "Hey, I just want to know what your deal is. I thought the Power Rangers were supposed to be good?" "I'm not one of them," said the Pink Ranger. "You're wearing their uniform." "The only thing we share is our power source, nothing else." "All right, then what are you doing?" "Working out." "What?" The Pink Ranger sighed, "You can't just spontaneously flood a city, it needs to be calculated especially when you're using your own powers, one false move and the plan backfires. I need to make sure I have enough energy to flood this city." "What?" "Dev, what just happened?" "So apparently Cass, the Pink Ranger wants to flood the city." "How can you hear from this distance, they're too far away?" "I gave Steven one of two mini microphones; it's recording the conversation between him and the Pink Ranger." "Why would you give him one?" "Steven is out there doing actual reporting." "Why would you want to flood the city?" asked Steven. "My boss commanded me." "That doesn't mean-" "Yes, I have to follow his instructions, or else…. Now get out of here, this place is gonna-" "Hold it right there!" The Red, Blue, Yellow, and Black Ranger ran up to the Pink Ranger and the monster beside her. "Wait…what?" said the Red Ranger. "You're a Power Ranger? Why are you-" "I am not re-explaining myself, I wouldn't be here if I was on your team!" The Pink Ranger stared at the Yellow Ranger,_ "And I won't forgive you anytime soon."_ "That's fine if you're not on our team; you're not going to flood the city on our watch!" said the Black Ranger. _"Dammit, Steven distracted me and I played right into it!" _thought the Pink Ranger. "Your ignorance is refreshing; you have no idea how powerful I am." The Pink Ranger charged at the Rangers with a river of water following her. The Pink Ranger hit the other Rangers with a sort of water stream attack, "This attack must be powerful," said Steven to Cassidy and Devin, "the Rangers are getting hurt with it." All four Rangers were pushed back by the Pink Ranger, "How do you like my Water Whip attack?" said the Pink Ranger. "That's it!" said the Red Ranger, "Are you guys ready?" All four of them screamed "Z-Rex Blaster!" The Pink Ranger smirked and jumped in front of Steven, Cassidy, and Devin, "I dare you to hit me with that thing! Who knows, you might actually hit one of these _innocent bystanders_!" "That a dirty trick," said the Blue Ranger. "What do you guys not understand about me being a bad guy; I'm not supposed to play nice, or fair for that matter!" The Rangers dismantled the Z-Rex Blaster, _"Gee, if I can bluff this good, I should try poker!"_ thought the Pink Ranger. She ran up to the pier again and (kinetically) lifted a huge amount of water, "I'm probably going to regret this move but…" the Pink Ranger whispered as she tossed the water to the Yellow Ranger. For a second the Yellow Ranger was surrounded by a huge ball of water but then it solidified around her. "What are you doing?" screamed the Black Ranger. "What does it look like, I'm freezing the water" said the Pink Ranger, coldly. "She gonna freeze!" said the Red Ranger. "Oh, no; she'll probably drown before she freezes," replied the Pink Ranger, _"I'm really pushing my limits now! Do I really have it in me to destroy her?" Erica closed her eyes for a second to remember the Yellow Ranger attacking her and she remembered what Elsa said 'Why do you even care if she is alive or dead? It wasn't like she was going to let you go home or anything' Erica opened her eyes to see the other Rangers trying to break out the Yellow Ranger, "Yes, I can." _The Pink Ranger looked over to the River Monster and it gave a slight nod, _"Good, it'll give me more power if I need it!"_ Just then, several blasts hit the Pink Ranger, it was powerful enough to knock her into the water. The solidified water that enclosed the Yellow Ranger turned back into water. The Yellow Ranger was breathing heavily as she was helped by her teammates, "Looks like that move was kinetic, so long as the Pink Ranger was focused on freezing the water it would remain solidified," said the Black Ranger. "Alright," said the Blue Ranger, "But then who blasted her into the river?" The White Ranger pulled up on his ATV, "I'm sorry I got here so late, are you okay, Kira?" The Yellow Ranger was still breathing heavily, "I'm….fine….get her….back for…..me!" "No problem!" The White Ranger got off his ATV and moved slowly towards the river when he shot the Pink Ranger into. "No you don't!" screamed the River Mutant as he charged at the White Ranger when a command stopped it. "The White Ranger is mine! Hit me with that attack you promised!" Both the mutant and the White Ranger looked at the river to see the Pink Ranger standing on a small ice block, "Do I need to repeat myself?" "No!" and with that the monster shot a beam out of its mouth at the Pink Ranger. She was couched into a ball at first, but then she managed to stand up straight, absorbing the entire attack. When the monster was done, it self-destructed. When the smoke cleared the Pink Ranger had a pink aura around her. The Pink Ranger prepared to charge up an attack, "Trent stop her! If she able to freeze water without the upgrade imagine what she can do-" commanded the Black Ranger. "I got it!" said the White Ranger as he was running towards the Pink Ranger. The White Ranger shot up in the air and fired his Thundermax Saber at her. The Pink Ranger shot an ice beam at the White Ranger, but he suddenly disappeared. "Where did he-?" asked the Pink Ranger. The White Ranger was able to re-appear on the ice block and attack the Pink Ranger with his Drago Sword. The Pink Ranger fell on her knees, "Good one," she said breathing heavily, "I didn't see that one coming…" The Pink Ranger collapsed into the water and the White Ranger fell into the river after the ice block melted. The four Rangers ran up to the pier to wait to see the two Rangers come up. The White Ranger managed to get up to the surface but he shook his head, the Pink Ranger didn't resurface. "We sure showed her!" said the Blue Ranger. "Yeah congrats, in the end cheap moves always win the fight!"

The Rangers turned around to see Steven with Cassidy and Devin right behind him. "I don't see why you're not celebrating with us? She wanted you guys to get hit with that beam!" said the Blue Ranger. "That could have easily been a bluff," said Steven, "You didn't even give her a chance to explain her situation to you!" "She said she didn't want to tell us." "She said she didn't want to_ re-explain_ her situation, she told us what her deal is. Her boss commanded her to do this and she had to do it, unless…" "She always had a choice and she made the wrong one!" said the Black Ranger, "That's all there is to it!" The Rangers walked away from Steven, Cassidy, and Devin. "I don't like it…" said Steven, "The Pink Ranger could've destroyed us but didn't." "C'mon!" said Cassidy, "She probably didn't think it was worth it, she was probably laughing on the inside how pathetically weak we were and decided not to waste the energy on destroying us." "I don't know," said Devin, "she didn't look totally evil to me, she seemed more pissed off than evil when she was trying to destroy the Yellow Ranger." "Oh so you think she just had it out for the Yellow Ranger, huh? Well then what about that beam she was charging up for, if it was an ice beam, she could've frozen off this entire area!" "I think that attack was purely for the White Ranger, ya know, to pay him back for knocking her into the water and all," said Steven. "Oh well," said Cassidy, "It doesn't matter now does it? She's gone, end of story? Now it looks like we only have the voice recording up to when the Power Rangers arrive to when we met up with them, we could narrate the fight scene…" said Cassidy. "Oh no you don't, you're going to put the Pink Ranger in a bad light," said Steven. "Well duh! She tried to flood Reefside Steven, are you telling me you want to turn her into a tragic hero!" "I rather tell the truth!" "Steven this video isn't gonna get you the job at the station it going to get me the job, and let me tell you, they don't like sappy stories!" "You can't be serious…." "I am." "Fine then." Steven took his camera away from Devin and started walking away. "Where are you going with that!" screamed Cassidy. "To the incinerator…." said Steven. "No wait, you're holding my future in your hands!" As soon as Steven was out of sight, Cassidy kicked some dirt around, "That the second time they done this to me! Why is the world against me!" "You sure about that Cass?" asked Devin. "Gee Devin I dunno, I could've sworn I saw Steven take HIS CAMERA BACK AND WALK AWAY!" "I mean are you sure?" With a flick of the wrist Devin produced a tape, "Cause you see Cass, he took the camera but I got the film." Cassidy glomped Devin, "Iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou…." "Alright, Alright, let's make a video….."

Back at the Ranger's headquarters…

"So Trent, does Mesogog have any other Rangers up his sleeve besides this new girl?" asked Conner. "Dude, for the last time, I don't know who she is, cause she wasn't there when I left!" "Trent, we need you to think really hard, are you sure there wasn't some side project Mesogog was working on when you left?" asked Dr. Oliver. Trent thought hard for a minute and shook his head. "I knew it…." said Conner, "We never should've trusted you!" "Conner!" Conner, Ethan, Dr. Oliver, and Hayley looked towards Kira, she was wet and wrapped in a towel, "If Trent was still working for Mesogog, why would he attack the Pink Ranger; wouldn't it make more sense to not have attacked and keep me intact in that ice." "Not if he was still playing us!" "I had enough of this…." said Trent, "I'm tired of you guys still not trusting me! I get it that I'm the new guy and all but just because I've never heard of this Pink Ranger doesn't mean I'm not telling you about the Pink Ranger. I'll see you guys later," as he turned and left the hideout. Everyone was staring at Conner, "What?" he said. "Listen, it doesn't make any sense. We had Trent….no more than a week, how was Mesogog able to find another person capable of handling a Dino Gem, it's not like they would be wearing a sign!" "We understand that Conner," said Dr.O, "but it is also possible that Mesogog didn't tell Trent about finding a new Dino Gem." "It's also possible," said Hayley, "that Mesogog found this person who had the Dino Gem and took her, like what he did with Kira." "Thanks for the reminder, guys," said Kira. "I thought Steven said that we didn't get her side of the story, right?" said Ethan. "What if Mesogog is coercing her and she really didn't have a choice but to fight us?" "That's means….." said Dr. O, "we broke one of the most sacred rules of being a Power Ranger. _To protect the innocent." _

_ I'm floating on air but its sooo dark. I remember the sword and falling but that's it. "Hi there!" Who are you? "We didn't meet yet, right? I'm your partner?" My partner? "Yeah, you were trying to find me a few days ago, remember? But, you got scared when you breathing underwater remember?" And I went back to shore. "Yeah, there you go!" I'm underwater, so am I dead? "No, you're sleeping right now, but I'm going to wake you back up with my power. How do you plan to do that? "Simple, stretch out your wrist." Like this. "No, silly, with your other wrist." My wrist, it's glowing a Pink light. "Yup can you find me now?" I see a Pink light in the distance, is that you…that egg? "Yup." So what do I need to do? "Just pick me up and I'll do the rest." What is your name? "I don't have a name." That's a shame, but since you're an egg, when you hatch I'll give you a name. "Thank you, but what about you, do you have a name?" Erica. "Okay, Erica I want you to grip me tight and close your eyes. _Erica was sitting on the ocean floor griping an egg for dear life.

Author Note

Sorry it took me so long to update, my classes drown me in work the last two weeks of school. And then this computer crashed and I needed to get it fixed. I will try to update over the week. So to clarify some points:

I took Japanese this term so I decided to use some of the words in this chapter. Since some of you may not know Japanese I am using romaji so you guys can read it. Also "glomping" is an anime term used when one person is hugging someone extra hard.

Thank you to all my loyal followers and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Gem**

**Chapter Fourteen **

Trent was sketching at his usual spot by the lake-he like it there-especially when he needed to relax. _"I knew they wouldn't accept me…" _he thought, _"Just because some new Ranger showed up means I must had something to do with her! What do I have to do to prove otherwise? What if-"_ A familiar voice broke his concentration, "Hey, is there room on that bench for one more?" Trent turned around to face Kira, "Depends on what you want to talk about?" Kira sat down on the bench, "Ummm….." "I figured." "No…okay, first off, I think you're really on our team and not working with Mesogog." "Really now…" "WILL YOU LET ME FINISH! Second, Conner wants to believe you, but it's just too soon…" "Too soon?" "Like, you've been with us a few days and now this new Ranger shows up. How did Mesogog find _and_ train a new Ranger in only a few days, it doesn't make any sense. How did Mesogog hide the fact that he was training a new Ranger behind your back; if you really didn't know anything?" Trent stopped sketching for a moment, "Honestly, I only paid attention to my work and that was it. Mesogog gave me my orders and I did my job and I did nothing else." "So if Mesogog was training a new Ranger…." "I don't think I would have cared to know; when I was under the influence of the White Gem I was only interested in fighting." Trent started sketching again, _"If this is true, I must be the biggest dunce on this planet. How the hell did I miss Mesogog train a new Ranger?" _Trent looked at Kira, "What makes you so sure to trust me without any doubt?" "Because…" Kira got up from the bench, "If you were on Mesogog side, you would've left me in that Ice Prison." Kira left Trent with his drawing; she took out her phone and called Dr.O. "Have you made your decision yet?" "I don't trust him 100%, but we need him as much as he needs us." "I figured you say that. Now that we beat Mesogog latest fighter, he'll be looking for payback and we'll need all the help we can get."

Elsa and Zeltrax were outside the lab, "How long do we need to stay out here?" asked Zeltrax. "Until Mercer leaves the lab." "I thought Lord Mesogog would be able to suppress him." "Not this time, we all saw Trent strike down his twin sister, I'm not surprised Mercer fighting Mesogog. It's pathetic really, Mercer the one who got _her_ involved and now she's destroyed. Mercer will have her blood on his hands for the rest of his life." Elsa and Zeltrax heard the sound of the Invisi-portal, Elsa smirked, "Time to go in." Elsa and Zeltrax entered the lab and Zeltrax went towards a terminal, "Do you remember Copy That?" "Yeah, so?" "What if I told you that I was able to salvage some parts of it that were not destroyed?" "And what would you want those parts for?" "For example, I found its memory cortex, the part that stored all of its copied information, _all of it."_ "All of them?" "Even the White One, I just need time to transfer the data I have, to transfer the data into the Geno Randomizer in which will create our own Rangers, but it will take some time." "Wait, you can make your own Rangers?" "Not full Rangers or else it could cause a glitch in the morphing grid, but something close."

A message was coming through on the com-link,_ "Come in, Lord Mesogog, It's the Pink Ranger." _Elsa and Zeltrax stared at the com-link, "That's impossible…."said Zeltrax, "She was destroyed." Elsa went to the com-link and opened communications on her end, "Well look who's not destroyed." "Very funny, can you-" "Why would Lord Mesogog want to talk to a failure like you? We should probably send a few Tyrannodrones down and capture you; maybe a few hours in the Punishment Chamber will teach you a lesson about following orders." "…..If you didn't want to see my Zord you could've said as much." "YOU HAVE A ZORD!" screamed Zeltrax. "Oh, hi Zeltrax, yeah I just found her a few hours ago, we've been training together. I didn't want to show Lord Mesogog until we were done so I could impress him. I wanted to show Lord Mesogog that I have a basic control over my Zord." Elsa walked over to Zeltrax and whispered, "Well?" "Well what?" Elsa gave him a look. "Just go down there and see what the Pink Ranger has to show you, if you don't like it, put her in the Punishment Chamber." Elsa walked back over to the com-link, "Where?"

Elsa walked out of an Invisi-portal, there she landed on the beach, with at least a dozen Tyrannodrones behind her, "She's still weak from that fight, she should be easy to capture." "Finally you came!" Elsa looked towards the ocean, the Pink Ranger was standing on the ocean; Elsa smirked, "I don't remember teaching you how to stand on the water…" "I'm not on the water," replied the Pink Ranger, "Chomper, rise!" The Pink Ranger starting rising, she was on a huge crocodilian-like zord which was at least 50ft long, and maybe 30ft tall, with a four feet on the ground. Its colors were dark pink with black stripes. When it opened it mouth it had thousands of sharp teeth at the ready, but Elsa remained calm, "Okay, so its big, is that it?" "No." The Pink Ranger preformed some martial arts from on the zord and shot out a 15ft. tidal wave. Elsa pulled out the scanner, "I can't believe Zeltrax was right about bringing _this_. _"Since she has a Zord her energy level might have went up, bring the scanner to show how much stronger she's become." _"Okay let's see how strong she really is…..150….I knew Zeltrax would give me a flawed scanner." "Well?" said the Pink Ranger. "So, all you got is a Dino-Zord and some waves, right?" _"Great…Elsa not impressed, I'm probably going have to preform that move, are you ready?" "I am, are you?" _"Alright Elsa I got one more trick! Croc-Zord Formation!" The Zord was able to transform into a working megazord within a matter of seconds, it was able to stand on two feet and its front legs turned into fist. It still had its big mouth with razor teeth. "Alright, alright, put that thing away before the Rangers get here, that thing as tall as a skyscraper!" "Chomper has a cloaking device attached to her, Rangers won't be able to see her if they wanted to." "Are you telling that all those people in Reefside are not seeing a 200ft megazord right now?" "Oh…yeah….the cloaking device only works on sensors….." "Now get your zord down to earth before the Rangers see it!" "Okay, okay, Croc-Zord Demorph!" The zord was surrounded in light for a few seconds, when the light subsided both the zord and the Pink Ranger were gone. "Great, where did they go?" The Croc-Zord rose its head up from the water and opened its jaw; the Pink Ranger walked out unharmed. "Chomper has a submarine inside her, so I can get back to the lair without using Invisi-portals. "Okay," said Elsa as she started walking away. "What do you mean okay!" "Elsa turned around to face the Pink Ranger, "I won't put you in the Punishment Chamber today, keep training with that Zord of yours for the next few hours and maybe I'll give a good report to Mesogog. Just because I won't put you in the Punishment Chamber doesn't mean Mesogog won't toss you in anyway. See ya." Elsa left through an Invisi-portal with the Tyrannodrones. The Pink Ranger collapsed on the sand and demorphed. "Alright Chomper, we did it." _"Of course we would pass. Now let's get back to training just in case she decides to come back to watch." _"Right."

Elsa returned to the lab, Zeltrax was still working on his assignment, "How'd it go with the Pink Ranger?" "She wasn't _that_ bad, she had some new techniques to show off, I can see why she waited so long before contacting us. How you're end coming along?" "We need an energy source to power up the data. And not just any power blast-" "A dino gem one," finished Elsa. Zeltrax nodded, "It going to take a lot of energy, I don't know if the girl will survive and I can't even guarantee this experiment will be a success." "I'll get her anyway."

Erica and Chomper were training Erica's new water moves. Chomper would send huge waves towards Erica and she had to protect herself (or get away from the attack) under any means necessary. _"Are you ready?"_ "I'm ready…" Chomper shot out a 50ft wave, Erica put herself in an Ice Barrier, the same one she put the Yellow Ranger in; except for the fact that she could breathe in the water. Erica's defenses held up for about two big waves but then Chomper launch at her and tail swiped Erica, shattering her defenses. The force of the attack pulled Erica down to the ocean, but she was able to resurface. Erica formed an ice patch and got on it. "That was a pretty cheap move, Chomper." _"I don't think your enemies are going to be more merciful than me. They are going to use any trick in the book to beat you. You can't hold up and rely too heavily on your defenses because if it shatters you're as good as dead. Let's do this agai-. We will continue this tomorrow. Look who's behind you." _Erica turned around and saw Elsa, "How long have you been watching." "Long enough. Get back to shore I need you for an assignment." "Sure. Chomper you can go back to your cove, I'll see you tomorrow." Chomper sank into the sea. Erica formed an ice strait between her and Elsa and walked towards shore, "What kind of assignment do you want me for?"

"You want me to do _what_ again?" asked the Pink Ranger. She was staring at a table littered with metal…things which was all connected to a computer "Just unleash up your Dino Gem energy at this machine," said Zeltrax. "What's it gonna do to me?" "Nothing, you'll probably just demorph to your human form," said Elsa, "After this job you can go home, alright?" The Pink Ranger nodded._ "I can do this."_ The Pink Ranger charged up her energy and shot out a Pink beam of energy at the machine, the machine then started glowing and making noises. "How long do I need to keep this going?" "Don't worry; you'll know," said Elsa. Just then the machine started sparking, "Is that normal?" "It just means it's activating…just a few more ticks…" The Pink Ranger kept up with her energy but she realized it was becoming harder to give the machine her energy, when she let down her defense she was hit with some of her energy. The Pink Ranger was thrown to the other side of the room, when she hit the wall she demorphed. As the Pink Ranger shook off the blow she saw Elsa and Zeltrax surrounded the computer terminal, "See I told you it would work!" said Zeltrax. "How much more work does this computer need before we get to see them?" Elsa asked. "When the bar reaches 100% all the data will transfer to the Geno Randomizer and then we'll be able to create our new weapon." "You're dismissed Pink Ranger," said Elsa, "We'll contact you tomorrow when we'll need you." "Roger," said Erica as she left the lab pressing her hand on the back of her head.

It was nighttime by the time Trent came home, "Dad? Are you home? We need to talk." The house was quiet, "Maybe Dad's still at his _other_ job." Trent went to his father's study, the lights were out but Trent could see a figure sitting down on a chair. "Dad…?" said Trent. He reached for a light switch. "Don't…." replied Anton. "Are you alright Dad?" "Yeah, I was just resting for a bit. What is it?" "Can I turn on the lights?" "Not yet." "Alright fine then." Trent walked into the study, the room being dark with just a bit of light coming from the hallway made Trent nervous. "Okay, ummm, I don't remember a Pink Ranger being around when I was working for Mesogog…." "Right…." _"Erica…..I'm so sorry….."_ "…And now the other Rangers _really_ don't trust me, and they didn't trust me fully before." "Right…" "Dad, are you even listening to me?" "Yeah…." Anton took a second to compose himself, "It seems that you're at a crossroads: What do you want to do now? Do you want to keep working with the other Rangers despite this "rough patch" you guys are facing or do you just want to quit?" "You really think it's only temporary?" "I think….it was some bad timing that Mesogog used to his advantage." "He _knew_ the Rangers would be a little skeptical of me at first." "I can't think of a more perfect way to sow the seeds of doubt than by what just happened today. They will come around, Trent; it's just going to take longer than usual." The front door opened and closed and someone ran up the stairs. Anton got up from his desk, "Trent, are you expecting company?" "No, it was probably Erica." "Erica…." Anton left his study and ran up the stairs. "Dad?" said Trent. He followed his dad up to Erica's room but Anton shut the door in his face. "What's up dad?" it was definitely Erica's voice. "What happened today?" "Nothing." "DON'T TEL ME THAT! WHAT HAPPENED?" "Calm down these walls are paper thin remember?" "There was an accident at the lab today." 'Heard about it, I wasn't anywhere near there, so no worries." "Why didn't you contact me?" "'Cause my boss is a hard-ass." "Erica…." "Look I need to get to Stevens; we're working on a project, alright. I'll see you later." Erica left the room, "Ciao, Trent." Erica said as she went down the stairs. "I thought you were taking Japanese not Italian." "Alright then…Sayonara," she said as she left the house. Trent looked inside Erica's room, his dad was sitting on her bed looking down at the floor with his hands cupped, and Trent saw his eyes were red, _"Was he crying?"_ Trent thought, _"No wonder he didn't want the lights on…he didn't want me to see that he had been crying."_ Trent knocked on the door to bring his dad back to reality. "I didn't want to explain it to you; no….I didn't know _how_ to explain to you." "Explain what?" Anton sighed deeply. "You remember I told you that I got your sister a part time job working at Mercer Industries?" "Yeah, she got a job assisting the scientists identifying dinosaur bones or something, right?" "Yes. I received a call today from one of her co-workers; apparently there was an accident at the lab today…an explosion of some kind. He didn't know where Erica was…." "And you thought the worst. Why didn't you go down there and see?" "I didn't want to interfere with the police work…I didn't want to find her there…" "Dad…." "I didn't want to tell you anything until I got the full story from the police. Erica could've been injured; she could've been miles away from the site. It was a small explosion, but…" "It's okay, Dad. Erica's safe. She came home…she seemed fine." "Yeah…" Anton sighed heavily again, "Have you made your decision yet?" "I don't know…" "Well no offense, if you keep fighting Mesogogs monster the same way you took out that Pink Ranger, they'll be begging for you to stay with the team." "Heh, I guess so. And yet…Who was she? Did she at least have a name?" Anton thought, _"How do I begin to explain to you who she is…."_ But instead, Anton looked Trent in the eyes when he stated indifferently, "Mesogog is not one to ask for names, not even pawns."

"Finally! We're done with this stupid project," said Steven reeling back on the floor. Erica and Steven were in his room finishing up the project. Erica was putting some designs on the poster board, "Was it just me or was designing the board easier than this entire project?" "Definitely. What time do you need to be home?" "Ugh…not anytime soon. I had some issues at work today and my dad was flipping." "What kind of issues?" "Some small explosion; nothing serious." "No offense to you, but I'd be flipping out along with your dad if I found out that you were involved in something like that." "I wasn't anywhere near it." _"I was getting my ass kicked by that Psycho White guy." _"Okay then, since you got nothing planned, T.V. time." Steven reached for the remote and turned on the T.V. As Steven flipped through the channels, Erica thought she saw a familiar face. "Hold it! Go back two channels." "Why?" "I thought…I saw Cassidy on T.V." "Two channels back…that would be the news. Why would Cassidy be on the 11 o'clock news?" "I don't know….just put it back." "Alright." Steven flipped back two channels and sure enough there was Cassidy on T.V, "Now of course, following any reporter's instinct, I followed the Pink Ranger to get as much information as possible…." "No no no no," said Steven as he ran into his closet. "What is she talking about, what Pink Ranger?" Steven was digging through his closet looking for something, "After you left, Cass called and said Devin didn't have his camera and asked to borrow mine." "Okay." "Well, we found this Pink Ranger, and some mutant that was with her. She claimed she was sent to submerge this city." "That's….just….great?" _"Was I really that convincing?"_ "Anyhow, the Rangers came and destroyed her." "Naturally." "I felt bad for her, so I told Cassidy and Devin not to publish the tape. I even took my camera back." Steven pulled out his camcorder and opened the VCR tape holder. It was empty. "Steven, didn't you think after the last time we took their tape they would be a bit more careful around us with video tapes?" "I didn't want that video to be published…." "Why not?" "….Now thanks to our cameraman, Steven, we were able to get once in a lifetime footage of the Pink Ranger," continued Cassidy. The video was being played with the Pink Ranger and the mutant. The Pink Ranger stated in front of Steven, "I have enough energy to flood this city!"_ "There was more to that conversation…" thought Erica. "And Cassidy cut it all out." _Then the video shows Pink Ranger jumping in front of the cameraman with the Rangers setting up they're beam attack, "I dare you to hit me with that thing! Who knows, you might actually hit one of these innocent bystanders!" _"Okay, I admit that one. I can't believe I almost got Steven killed. What the hell was I thinking?"_ Then the Pink Ranger took some water and nearly froze the Yellow Ranger in a ball of ice, "What does it look like, I'm freezing the water" said the Pink Ranger, coldly. "She gonna freeze!" said the Red Ranger. "Oh, no; she'll probably drown before she freezes," replied the Pink Ranger. Erica was shaking, _"What the hell is wrong with me? I actually almost killed her! Why would I…" _Then for the finale, the video show that White Ranger slashes the Pink Ranger with his weapon and both of them falling into the water. Erica gripped her stomach, _"That battle is a few hours and I'm still feeling the attack._ _And that's what I looked like. Jeez, no wonder why everyone thinks I'm dead: Elsa, Seven, my dad… I should be dead after everything I did. " _"Erica, are you okay?" Erica rubbed her eyes, "Yeah, just seeing the White Ranger again…brought back memories….So is he working for the good guys now?" "I guess so." "Why didn't you want Cassidy to publish this tape again?" "She cut out _that_ part." "What part?" But Erica knew what Steven was talking about. "The Pink Ranger told me 'Yes, I have to follow his instructions, or else…. Now get out of here, this place is gonna-' I didn't think she was doing this willingly, I think she was forced into that job." "Whose orders?" "I have no idea…." "No offense Steven…she didn't have to jump in front of you guys when the Rangers were preparing an attack for her, she didn't have to almost drown the Yellow Ranger in that…Ice…Thing…If her boss just told her to flood the city and that's all she did, I would totally side with you. But this _Ranger_ no…this _monster_ deserved nothing short of destruction." "Erica…" "She could've killed you!" Erica started crying. _"I could've-I almost-killed you."_ Steven held her, "I'm sorry…but what _would_ you have done if the Pink Ranger did kill me?" "I'd curse you out while giving your Eulogy for being so stupid." "That sounds…just like you."

Sometime later….

"Steven…?" said his mom as she knocked on the door. "It's getting late. Does Erica need a ride home?" His mom opened the door and saw Steven and Erica on the floor, sleeping. "Oh…boy," she said, "Alright….how do you get two exhausted teenagers up at this hour?" Steven's mom leaned against the door for a second when she saw something near Erica glowing. She went over and picked it up; it was a phone but not Stevens'. "Probably Erica's," she murmured. She looked at the Caller ID, "Dad" she said. She took the phone outside the room and answered, "Hello?" "Erica?" "No, this is Steven's mom. Erica is sleeping now." "Are you serious?" "Yeah. I could bring the phone up to her but she's not snoring unlike my son, Ha." "Funny." Erica's father sighed. "Alright, is it possible for me to pick her up at dawn?" "Yeah that's fine, is 0500 hrs. okay by you?" "Yes, that's acceptable. Goodbye." "Bye." Steven's mom hung up the phone and placed the phone back next to Erica. Steven's mom looked at the kids sleeping for a second when she had an idea, "This is an opportune moment for Christmas pictures. Now where did I put my camera…..."

A few hours later…..

Steven's mom banged on her son's door, "Alright sleepyheads time to get up!" Steven and Erica opened their eyes slowly and got up from the floor. "Hey…" said Steven as he yawned. "Yo…" said Erica, "I thought I went home last night…." "That silly, how else could you be here if you went home?" "Good point." Erica got and stretched. Steven's mom opened the door, "Erica sweetie, your dad is gonna pick you up in about a half hour so collect your things and get to the kitchen, do you want coffee and breakfast?" "Yes please, Mrs. Roberts, What time is it anyway?" "Sweetie called me Angela, and it's…. 0430hrs." "Okay Angela, be down in a bit." Erica and Steven came down to the kitchen, on the kitchen table there was a yellow envelope. "Erica, I left a cup on the table there is milk and sugar on table also unless you want cream." "Milk's fine." Erica whispered to Steven, "Is you mom always this nice to guests?" "You're the first girl to sleep over, for my mom, this is a special occasion." "Mom, what's in the envelope?" "It's a project I'm working on. I want you two to go through some pictures and tell me which ones you like best." Erica went to pick up her coffee. "Don't Erica! The coffee is a bribe! My mom always pulls this stunt on me when she wants me to do something for her!" Erica looked at the envelope and looked at Steven, "If all I have to do is look at some pictures for a free breakfast and coffee, I'm taking it." Steven opened the envelope and poured out the photo, Erica took one sip of her coffee and spit it out. "What are these pictures!" "They're Christmas photos." Steven's mom took at seat across from Erica and Steven. "They're photo of us sleeping!" said Steven. "No, they are photo of your sleeping heads, there a difference." "I see what you mean now about the bribe." Erica took another sip of the coffee this time swallowing it. "I want you two to pick the best photo and I'm going to put it on a Christmas card saying 'We can't wait to see you this season!'" Steven stared at his mom, "Are you kidding?" "No, why would I joke about a thing like this?" Erica went through some of the photo and tossed one at Steven's mom, "That's my favorite." "Thank you, your waffle coming out of the toaster, syrup and butter?" "Yes please." "I can't believe you're encouraging her." "Watch it Steven, or else I will change my mind and give your mom _this_ one. This photo Erica was referring to was with Steven yawning in his sleep. A few minutes later the doorbell rang. "Erica it's probably your dad," said Angela as she went towards the door. When she opened the door she froze for a second as did Erica's father. He looked at her for a second when he stated, "Roberts." It was only fair she replied back just as coldly, "Mercer." He smiled, "Aren't you the scientist that almost annihilated several South American indigenous tribes?" "Aren't _you_ the scientist that was given billions of dollars for dinosaur research that mysteriously disappeared when the island you were working on "sank"?" Erica and Steven walked in the hallway and saw those two staring at each other, "Mexican standoff," murmured Steven. "I'm too tired for this." Erica walked over to Angela and put her hand on her shoulder. Angela turned around, "You're leaving us?" "Yea, since my dad's here and all." "Okay sweetie, see you soon and thank you." Steven's mom hugged Erica, _"How the hell did you end up with a father like Mercer?"_ As soon as Erica closed the door, Angela clenched her fist. "How the hell-" "Mom, are you alright?" "Yeah, I'm fine sweetie."

"So, dad, what was that about?" "I'll tell you later. Right now, can we talk about what happened yesterday?" "Like what?" "Mesogog gave a message yesterday, how… you were never coming home again." "I see…" "What happened?" "I underestimated my enemy, that's all." "Details. Now." "Why? Why don't you ask Mesogog what happened. Since you two are _best_ buddies and all. " "That's not funny." "You're not gonna let me out of the car, are you?" "Not until I'm satisfied with your explanation." "Okay... I got struck down by the White Ranger… I found my Zord….and Elsa and Zeltrax put me through the works, I trained for a few hours and then I assisted Zeltrax with some sort of project. I had to give some machine my Dino Gem energy to activate something….a weapon, maybe." "Is that it?" "I got hit with recoil, but yeah, that's it." "You found your zord, huh?" "Yup. A reaallly big croc, I named her Chomper." "Any idea what Zeltrax's project is?" "Nope." "Alright, let's get you home."

**End of Chapter 14**

Sorry this chapter took so long. I got hit with writers block. I'll try to upload another chapter the next week or two. See ya then


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Gem**

**Chapter Fifteen **

"Trent, are you sure about that?" said Dr. Oliver. "There is no way I could've gone that far!" "Trent! Are you telling me that Kira and Ethan were lying?" "I don't know, but I can tell you I wasn't there, I didn't steal their Dino Gems!" "All three of them saw you!" "This has to be some kind of mistake…." "Trent! Answer me now!" "Dr. O, its Conner. Trent's back and I think he's' looking for my Dino Gem next!" "Conner, hold on!" said Dr. Oliver, "I'll be there as soon as I can!" Dr. Oliver ran out of the classroom leaving Trent behind, _"How the hell did it go this far….first they accuse me of being a traitor and now they accuse me of stealing their Dino Gems...PTTHH…if they want to get rid of me that bad they could've just said so!" _"Trent, are you coming?" said Dr. O, he was outside the classroom. "Why?" said Trent, "No one believed me." "Trent, you're the only person that can disprove the other Rangers' allegations…Besides don't you want to get back at the guy that framing you!" Trent shrugged, "Alright you win_…_let's teach that monster what happens to them when they frame a Ranger!"

**A few hours earlier….**

"Trent, are you free this period? I need to talk to you," said Dr. O. "Yeah, this is my free period." Science class was just over and the rest of the students were leaving. After the last students left the classroom Dr.O closed the door. "So, I take it Kira spoke to you?" Trent took a seat closer to Dr.O, "So I take it she told you everything we said yesterday." "Yeah, so here what I wanted to ask you: Do you think you killed her; the Pink Ranger?" Trent shrugged, "You didn't seem to care yesterday." "That was before Ethan made the suggestion. That was the last thought on my mind, that any of us were capable of taking a life." Trent sighed and shook his head, "I doubt it, I mean…I really don't think I put in that powerful of an attack…." "It was just flashy then?" "Yeah, just a big flash, and she went into the water." "Alright then, you better make your tutoring session with Cassidy short today… 'cause if we do see her again she'll be looking for payback." "Don't I know it. Thanks, Dr.O. See ya." As Trent left the classroom, _"Should I have told him…Nah, I doubt he'd believe me. How do I explain it anyway…that at that moment when I hit her, I felt….connected to her."_

"So, what's your thought on it?" said Kira to Conner as they were carrying their trays back to their table. "I think Ethan went a bit out there when he said we killed her." "Who ya kill?" Conner and Kira were shocked when they realized they were overheard. They saw Erica at a table with Steven across from her with his head down. "A character in a story, right Kira." "Yeah, it was an assignment for our Creative Wring class, we wrote a story with a cliff-hanger. The teacher asked for suggestions on how the story ended, and Ethan gets up and says 'They killed her!' funny right?" "I didn't know short stories interested Ethan." "Neither did us until Ethan said it." Conner and Kira sat next to Erica and Steven, "What's up with Steven?" said Conner. "He woke up this morning and was traumatized during breakfast." "What happened?" "Sorry guys, Steven carrying his sword today and I'd like to live to Japanese class today," said Erica. "Was it that bad last night during you Study Night?" said Trent as he took a seat across from Conner and Kira. "Study Night?" asked Conner and Kira simultaneously. "Yeah, they spent the night together at _his_ house." "Doing a project…drama queen," said Erica. "We had a project?" said Kira. "Me and Steven did, Japanese, and let me tell you the designing was the best part of the project. Say, where Ethan?" "Oh, he doesn't eat with us. He hangs out with his Dragon War buddies," said Kira. "Hey, Steven why don't you go play Dragon Wars, you're not totally addicted like those other guys…" _"Mumble…Mumble…Mumble" _"C'mon Steven don't be like that!" "I don't want to talk to Devin right now…" "What's wrong with _him_?" asked Conner. "Devin stole some of his footage yesterday to get Cassidy a spot on the news network." "You mean that Pink Ranger piece?" "Yeah." "That was yours?" said Kira. "You saw it?" "Everyone in Reefside saw it..." said Trent. _"Dr.O called to make sure we watched it." _"I mean come on! It's a new Ranger, that not on the good guys side. And the White Ranger mysteriously switched sides." "Yeah…" said Conner agreeing, "I mean the last few footages of the White Ranger, he was with the monster and _now_ he was helping the Rangers defeat this new girl." "Yeah but…." said Steven. "No but's," said Erica, "The Rangers were doing a service to beat her. She almost killed you yesterday, she had enough power to destroy Reefside and you wanted her alive?" Steven finally raised his head up, "You weren't there! None of you were! How would you-no-how _could you_ understand!" Steven got up and walked away from the table. "Is he going to be alright?" said Kira. "I'll give him five minutes and then chase after him," said Erica as she opened her milk. "So you think they killed her?" said Trent. "Who?" asked Erica. "The Pink Ranger, do you think they killed her." "Nah, they might have done some damage, but…I think she ran." "Why?" "The attack seemed…a bit weak." "Weak…?" said Conner. "Yeah," continued Erica, "That attack might've destroyed the monster but a Ranger…It could just be me but I would think it would take a lot more to defeat a Power Ranger." "What do you think happened to her?" said Kira. "From what I saw she was a water witch, right?" "We all saw her use some water moves…" said Trent. "Well then," said Erica, "What better place for a water witch to escape than in the ocean? I better go find Steven," Erica said as she left the table. "Well?" said Conner. "I don't think I put in enough energy to kill her, stun her maybe, but not kill her," said Trent. "Sounds plausible…" said Kira, "but we're not going to know for sure until we see her again." "If we see her again," finished Conner.

At Mesogog's Lair….

"So, how did the project go last night?" asked Elsa walking in on Zeltrax. "The good news is the Pink Ranger gave more than enough energy….The bad news is only one of the Rangers accepted the power." "Which one?" "The White One, the final touches are being put on it now." Zeltrax was working on a computer next to the Geno Randomizer. "And then?" asked Elsa. "We should have a Ranger that can give the Rangers a run for their money." "What about the _real _White Ranger?" asked Mesogog as he walked in. "My lord!" said Zeltrax, "How did you know…" "The Pink Ranger has given me enough information on this _project _of yours, Zeltrax. The question is how we should use this new weapon against the Rangers." "We'll send the Pink Ranger to distract Trent Mercer and then send down the doppelganger to destroy the rest of the Rangers," replied Zeltrax "How do you know this _White Ranger_ will have enough power to destroy them?" asked Elsa. "I thought I told you….the Pink Ranger donated plenty of energy."

At the end of the school day, Steven met up with Erica at her locker. "An A+ on the project, let's go out today, my treat." "I'm expecting a call from my boss so not today." "Okay then….when?" "I dunno, Saturday?" "You're not nice." "I don't want to have my fun ruined by my boss, okay. I rather just stayed out all day and enjoy it, please." "Planning another sleep over?" said Trent as he walked over. "Why are you so upset about it? Nothing went down that night…except for a project," said Steven. Trent shrugged, "Because every time I mention it you get all defensive. Erica do you have a book?" "What book?" said Erica pointing at her locker, "I got plenty." "I need a Paleontology book something that could make Cassidy understand it." "She asked you to tutor her?" asked Steven. "No, Devin did. He can't seem to get through to her and with that big test next week…." "No sweat ummm…." Erica went into her locker and went through some books and pulled out a few, "Here are some," said Erica. "And Trent if all else fails, there is no shame is picking up _A Moran's Guide to Paleontology_." "I was going to save that option for last, see ya later," said Trent as he was walking away. "Final answer?" said Steven. Erica phone started vibrating. "Yes, Saturday, all day. Promise." Steven turned and walked away to his locker. He opened it and pulled out his camera, "Let's see if I get lucky two days in a row…."

The Pink Ranger was outside the Invisi-Portal, "I knew I should've asked Elsa if it was safe or not…Damn it". The Pink Ranger finally went through and entered the lab. Mesogog, Elsa, and Zeltrax were surrounding someone, _"Great, I'm already being replaced after my first day, dammit!" _Mesogog walked up to her, "You failed your mission yesterday." "I know." "You found your Zord yesterday." "I did." "You assisted Zeltrax with a project by giving him most of your energy." "Yes." Mesogog turned to Elsa, "Give her the assignment for today." Mesogog whispered to the Pink Ranger, "Don't fail me again." "Yes, sir," said the Pink Ranger as Mesogog left the lab. "Alright," said Elsa. "You going to take this _White Ranger _and beat the Rangers. Together with your combined energy you shouldn't fail…" The Pink Ranger was staring at the _White Ranger_, _"How the hell am I supposed to work with the guy who tried to kill me yesterday…"_ "That's not the real _White Ranger_ you know…." said Elsa. The Pink Ranger looked back at Elsa and then back at the _White Ranger. _"Are you sure?" The Pink Ranger knocked on the _White Ranger's _helmet, "He looks awfully real…" "You gave it some of your energy yesterday, remember…." started Elsa. "I make _this?_ Okay, so what are we going to do with it? We could plant this guy with the Rangers or something and let it collect Intel, right?" "That a good idea. But we would need to destroy the real White Ranger before we can do that." "The fact of the matter is…" started Zeltrax, "is that the real White Ranger was recently a turn coat before we found you." "So if the other Rangers see this guy with me…." "The Rangers will assume the White Ranger came back to us." "Sowing the seeds of doubt…I like it." said the Pink Ranger, "But won't the plan fail if the real White Ranger is fighting with them?" "He's not there now," said Elsa looking at a monitor showing a fight the between the three Rangers and the Tyrannodrones, "Get down there now before he does come and ruins the plan!" "Yes, ma'am. Let's get out of here!" The Pink and _White_ Rangers left the lab. "Are you sure they're going to be successful?" asked Zeltrax. "Don't worry, Mesogog is watching too."

As the Red, Blue, and Yellow Rangers were fighting off the Tyrannodrones….

"Is this the best Mesogog can dish out?" said the Yellow Ranger as she slashed at a group with her Ptera Grips, "A small army of _these_ guys. And here I thought Mesogog would be pissed at us." "Don't let your guard down!" said the Red Ranger, "Mesogog has something up his sleeve, I just know it." Just then there was a white flash that hit each of the Rangers that sent them on the floor. "What was that? Was it-" said the Blue Ranger. "No….I won't believe it!" said the Yellow Ranger. "Then you must be the biggest fool of them all…." said a female voice. The Pink Ranger appeared from the shadow of a nearby building. "Well…that answers that!" said the Yellow Ranger as she picked herself up, "It would've been sad if you died on your very first mission." "I was caught off guard the last time we met, I didn't think my _partner_ would go so hard on me. Oh well, a minor setback." "Your…._partner…._" said the Blue Ranger. The _White Ranger_ appeared right next to her, "Can you quit gossiping and let's get this over with." "Fine, fine." "SUPER DINO MODE!" The Red Ranger lunged with his Tyranno Staff at the Pink and White Rangers. The Pink Ranger was able to block and counter the Red Ranger's attack which pushed him back to the Yellow and Blue Ranger, "He's mine," the Pink Ranger turning to the _White Ranger_, "Handle the other two." "Alright"_ he _replied. The Pink Ranger pulled out her sword and went after the Red Ranger. Her first hit struck him and cut part of his uniform on his arm. "This sword has 100 little blades surrounding it. There's no way you _cannot_ get hurt from this sword." The Pink Ranger had the lead of the attack pushing the Red Ranger farther away from the Blue and Yellow Ranger. _"Good…" she thought, "I need him away from any help." _ The Red Ranger kept backing up away from her sword slashes,_ "The second she lets up on her attack I'll shoot her….Just gotta keep up, one misstep and it's over…" _

Steven was wandering around the city looking for the Rangers, "How does it come so easy to Cassidy to find the Rangers and I have to actually go out and look for them?" Just then a big explosion rocked a building half a mile away from Steven. He looked up at the sky and whispered "Thank You" before running off to the site of the explosion. When he reached the area he saw the Blue and Yellow Rangers on the floor and the _White Ranger_ holding his weapon against them. "This is going to blow Cassidy's story right out of the water…" said Steven as he opened his camera.

The _White Ranger _was walking towards the Yellow and Blue Ranger, "Taking your gems is going to be easier than I thought." "SUPER DINO MODE!" the Blue and Yellow Ranger screamed as spikes came out of their uniforms. "We're not done yet!" screamed the Blue Ranger. The Rangers charged at the _White Ranger_ but _he _was either blocking or dodging their moves. "You'll faster I'll admit, but you two are finished!" "Big words from someone who won't launch an attack on us!" "Is that a challenge….Fine, why hold back any longer." said the _White Ranger_, "Super Dino Mode!" The White Ranger was covered in black spikes when he was done charging up, "You two may have stood a chance against me in your powered up mode…" said the_ White Ranger, _"But it won't help now! You aren't the only ones with a hidden power supply! You two just sealed you death warrants." "We'll just see about that!" said the Yellow Ranger as they charged at the White Ranger

The Red Ranger blocked the Pink Ranger's attack with his Tyranno Staff and jumped back a few feet. The Pink Ranger saw a sewer grate on the ground a few feet away, as she was walking towards she starting taunting the Red Ranger, "What's wrong, Ranger? Tired of being on the defensive?" "Yeah I am, actually. Thundermax Saber! Laser Mode!" The Red Ranger pulled out a laser gun, "FIRE!" He shot off a few rounds at the Pink Ranger. "There we go…" she said as she pulled some "water" out the grate and froze it in front of her. The laser shots deflected off the ice. "Now whose being defensive?' the Red Ranger asked. "I can't keep his attacks back forever, I need to get offensive ….I got it." The Pink Ranger melted and condensed the "water" she had and formed it into a ball, "Now just freeze it a bit…" and she shot the "Ice Water Ball" outta her hands. The attack hit the Red Ranger in the chest causing him to morph out of Super Dino Mode. The Pink Ranger pulled out her sword and started charging at the Red Ranger, _"Now one final attack, finish him!_" "What?" said the Pink Ranger as she dropped her sword a few feet from the Red Ranger. She knelt down next to him, "Why would I think that? That's not how I want to finish this battle…." The Red Ranger picked up the Pink Ranger's sword, "I'm not falling for that trick twice, got it? What do you mean that not how…" "I have no problem beating you until you end up in your human form and then taking your Dino Gem, but I'm not _killing_ you to get it! Dammit! This is the second time I had that voice in my head" _"The first time the voice told me to attack the White Ranger with that Ice Beam and it almost got me killed."_ "Who told you to kill me?" "A thought in my head…Hmph." The Pink Ranger performed an uppercut punch on the Red Ranger, which caused him to drop the sword. The Pink Ranger picked up her sword again. "Where are you?" The Pink Ranger answered her communicator, "Somewhere near you, I don't think I took the Red Ranger _that_ far from your fight…." "The Blue and Yellow Rangers are defeated. What would you like me to do with them?" "Are they in their human form or dead?" "They demorphed, do you want them…." "No, I'll go and meet you and we'll take their Dino Gems to Elsa. Over and out." The Pink Ranger started walking away when the Red Ranger tried to stop her, "We're not done yet!" "Yes, we are. We'll finish this fight later when I'm feeling better. For someone who just gave you good news, you're taking the news rather badly…" "Oh no you don't! After everything you did I'm not letting you get away!" said the Red Ranger as he pulled out his Thundermax Saber and charged at her.

"_This isn't happening….this isn't happening…."_ thought Steven. He was still filming and he saw everything. He saw the Blue and Yellow Ranger use all their weapons against the _White Ranger_ but it was no use, it had no effect in his powered up mode. And yet every punchsent them flying. Until…. "Drago Sword, Laser Arrows!" shouted the _White Ranger. _The attack not only sent them flying but demorphed them….into…Kira and Ethan. They were unconscious on the floor with the _White Ranger_ on _his_ communicator talking to someone, his partner perhaps. Steven put his camera down and started running toward the _White Ranger_ and he punched him. The White Ranger staggered back a few feet, "Human this doesn't concern you! Get away from here from I have to hurt you." _"There would be no shame in running; this guy toasted the Rangers….and yet…." _"NO! You leave my friends alone!" Steven charged at the _White Ranger_ again, but _he_ picked up Steven sent him flying into the alleyway. "Then let pain be your teacher…." said the _White Ranger _as_ he _sent the Laser Arrows into the alleyway. Steven put himself over his camera and dodged the blast; and he stayed hidden in the shadows, "That was so stupid of me. These Rangers are gonna get me killed…"

"What happened? Two little Rangers weren't enough for _you_ that _you_ go off on some civilian?" Steven saw the Pink Ranger approach the_ White Ranger_. "Just someone who thought he could interfere, but he's gone now." Steven removed his hand from the camera lens. "How was you fight with the Red Ranger?" "Fine, until _someone_ interrupted us." "Is that why you morpher is sparking?" "The Red Ranger was able to get me with a cheap shot, my morpher going crazy now….de-morphing…re-morphing me…it's annoying." "Then you should've finished him…" "He'll be out for a few hours….." "So you didn't take his Dino Gem then?" "No….I want to fight him again. There is more power in him than meets the eye. I hope he shows it to me next time." The Pink Ranger looked towards Kira and Ethan, "Who are these two?" "The Yellow and Blue Rangers….demorphed." _"Please don't kill them….please." _whispered Steven.

"_Kira…..Ethan…this doesn't make any sense. They can't be…" _"What's wrong? Nervous?" "No…it's just…they look so weak when they're not in their Ranger form, that's all." "So are you, but you don't see me complaining." "Really…?" The Pink Ranger demorphed. "I think I rather intimidating….Dammit I demorphed again!" Erica bent down and collected the Yellow and Blue Dino Gems. "Let's report back to Elsa, maybe she can fix it." "She better fix it. I can't go around beating the rest of the Rangers de-morphing back to my human form!" Erica left with the _White Ranger _at her side.

Steven closed his video camera, "No….no…it can't be…Not her please….she work with her dad…she can't be a bad guy….she can't…." Steven sat down next to a garbage can numb. "Kira! Ethan!" said a voice. Steven looked out at saw Conner trying to wake them up. "Now that I think about it…" said Steven… "Kira wearing yellow, Ethan wearing blue, and the great Conner McKnight….red…Geez, I must biggest dolt on this planet. What do I do now?" said Steven banging his head against the wall.

Back at school, Dr. Oliver was preparing the big test everyone is worrying about….

"Tommy, its Hayley. Pick up!" "What's up Hayley?" "That Rangers were ambushed by Trent and the Pink Ranger. Conner was able to bring Kira and Ethan back but they're hurt." "Do you say 'Trent'?" "Yeah, all three of them confirmed they saw him next to the Pink Ranger. Tommy, Conner says Trent was the one who demorphed Kira and Ethan." "HE WHAT?" "They're Dino Gems were taken too…" "I'll be there soon. Over and out…..Dammit!" said Dr. Oliver. He packed up his things and ran out of the school building. As he entered the faculty parking lot, he looked into the school library where he saw Trent, Cassidy, and Devin at one table. Dr. O dropped his briefcase in his jeep and walked back into the school building. "Okay Cassidy," said Trent, "name five herbivore dinosaurs." "The Long Neck, the Three Horn, the Spiketails, the Swimmers, and the Flyers." "That's good, Cass. Now can you give their official names not their names from "The Land Before Time." "Okay, lets' see, there's…." "Trent!" Dr. O approached the table, "What are you doing here?" "Cassidy asked me to help her study…." "Where have you been the last few hours?" "With them," said Trent pointing at Devin and Cassidy. "Can we talk in my office, _now_?" "Yeah, no problem," said Trent getting up. "Cassidy, just memorize the easy names, if you can't spell it forget it, got it? Leave Erica to the big names, alright?" "Thank, man," said Devin.

Back at Mesogog's Lair…

The Pink Ranger tossed the Blue and Yellow Gems to Elsa, "There…Satisfied?" "I saw your fight with the Red Ranger you didn't take his Dino Gem." "I wasn't done with him, yet. When I'm done with him, I'll take it." "Your mission…." "My mission was to take the _White Ranger_ and fight with the Rangers so they would think the real White Ranger has turned traitor, not to get their Dino Gems. That was just a bonus." "The Dino Gems are the central part of the plan! Why else would we be attacking them if not for their Dino Gems?" "Calm down Elsa, we already got two Dino Gems. We only need three more, how hard can it be?" "It would've been easier if you've taken the Red Ranger's Dino Gem today…" "We'll handle the Red Ranger later; right now I got a bigger problem…" "Your morpher, hand it over." The Pink Ranger handed the morpher over to Elsa, which she started working on it. "This never would've happened if you just-" "I don't need to hear the lecture again, I'll beat the Red Ranger and take his Dino Gem." "And the others?" "Them too." Elsa handed over the morpher to Erica. Erica put on her morpher and proceeded to walk out of the lab. "Where do you think you're going?" asked Elsa. "I'm done for the day, see you tomorrow." "Who says you-" The doors closed behind Erica. The _White Ranger_ was next to Elsa, "What now?" "The Red Ranger is still weak from his battle with the Pink Ranger…put him out of his misery."

Trent followed Dr. O into his office where he closed the door. "Where were you? Really?" "With Cassidy and-" "Don't lie, Trent. Hayley filled me in on everything." "On what, I was at the library! Why don't you tell me what I'm being accused of before you go all psycho on me!" Dr.O explained the message he got from Hayley. "Did they see me or the White Ranger?" "Trent…." "There is a difference! If I see a Red Ranger my first thought is Conner, if that Red Ranger starts attacking me, I know it's not Conner!" "How can you be so sure?" "Cause Conner wouldn't do that to us." "It doesn't take much to turn someone against you Trent." "Dammit! It wasn't me!" Dr. O, its Conner. Trent's back and I think he's' looking for my Dino Gem next!" "Conner, hold on!" said Dr. Oliver, "I'll be there as soon as I can!" Dr. Oliver ran out of the classroom leaving Trent behind_, "How the hell did it go this far….first they accuse me of being a traitor and now they accuse me of stealing their Dino Gems...PTTHH…if they want to get rid of me that bad they could've just said so!"_ "Trent, are you coming?" said Dr. O, he was outside the classroom. "Why?" said Trent, "No one believed me." "Trent, you're the only person that can disprove the other Rangers' allegations…Besides don't you want to get back at the guy that framing you!" Trent shrugged, "Alright you win…let's teach that monster what happens to them when they frame a Ranger!"

Steven knocked on the door, _"If anyone can help me its Him." _Anton Mercer opened the door, "Steven? Erica and Trent aren't home yet…" "I didn't come to talk to them." Anton took a deep breath, "Alright, come on in." Anton saw that Steven didn't have his camera on him, _"I wonder how much did he get on film." _"Why don't you come in to my study?" "Thanks." Steven took a seat with Anton taking a seat across from him. "How much do you know about my mom?" "Your mom, Dr. Roberts?" "Yeah but that her maiden name." "It's easier that way. I mean your mom wrote dozens of scientific articles before she was married. If you wanted to study her work do you want to look through two different piles for the same person: Roberts and Eide or just Roberts?" "Okay, that makes sense." "So I take it you didn't want to talk to me about why your mom kept her maiden name, right?" "You know my mom deepest, darkest secret, don't you?" "What gave you that impression? What happened this morning?" "Yeah, you two looked like arch-enemies or something." "I dunno, I read her files I couple of month after the incident, and that was only the stuff the government allowed." "Incident?" "Well I assume you wanted to know your mom's deepest, darkest secret." "What do you know about it?" "Why do you want to know?" "I know some things….bad things…good things….and I don't know what to do. I can one way or I can do something else. I was wondering…." "What would your mom do?" "Yeah." "Steven, I don't think you understand….the incident with your parents caused your dad to go to Japan." "So?" "This incident was so bad ….you dad needs permission from three different countries before he's allowed to leave. The same goes for your mom. I don't know what you know…" _"Is he really thinking of betraying his friends, I'm not even sure if he got Erica on camera or was he knocked out by the White Ranger…."_ "But it can't be as bad as what your parents did." "I want you to tell me what they did and why did they do it. Because the information I have…I want to know if it's worth the risk." "Alright fine."

End of Chapter 15

Sorry this chapter took so long. I got hit with writers block. Trying to move this story along, no wonder its takes so much time to write a book. I'll try to update soon. Thank you to all my patient fans. I hope you enjoy it.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Gem**

**Chapter Sixteen**

Hayley drove up to meet up with Conner, Ethan, and Kira. "Are you three alright?" she asked as she was getting out of the car. "If you consider getting our butts whooped okay, then we're fine," said Kira. "You're lucky the _White Ranger _didn't kill you!" "That guy took our Dino Gems," said Ethan. "Not _that guy_… it was Trent," finished Conner, "With the Pink Ranger's help." "She's alive? That's good," said Hayley. "What's good about that news?" "Let's just say Tommy might've taken your opinion, Ethan, a little too personally. Let's get back to the base so I can fix you guys up."

Back at the Ranger's base….

Hayley helped Kira and Ethan with their bandages while Conner was working on a computer. "Anything yet?" Ethan asked. "No, not yet…." said Conner. "So, what did happen with your fight with the Pink Ranger?" asked Hayley. "I don't know…." said Conner. _"I still can't believe she walked away from that fight…"_ "She didn't take your Dino Gem, which is good. Were you stronger than her?" "No…" "C'mon Conner, tell us," said Ethan. "Yea, you're never _this_ quiet about a fight," said Kira. "It was a draw…" said Conner, "She didn't want to fight anymore, and I needed to get back to you guys." Ethan and Kira exchanged an uneasy glance. The alarm started blaring, everyone turned to the computer screen, which showed the _White Ranger_ shooting off some Laser Arrows at civilians. "Damn it…" said Conner as he started running out of the hideout. "Conner, where the hell do you think you're going?!" said Hayley, "You can't beat _him by _yourself!" "I just need to hold him off until Dr.O comes to back me up!" said Conner as he left. "That idiot…." said Hayley. She turned to see Ethan and Kira get up from their seats, "No! Absolutely not!" she said as she pushed Kira and Ethan back into their seats. "We need to help Conner!" said Ethan. "Look, if you just had your butts whooped, I'd send you to back him up, but not only did the two of you lose; you _lost_ your Dino Gems. If you leave, Conner is gonna have to choose whether to protect you or the civilians and knowing him, who do you think he's gonna choose. You've got to stay here and recover so when you do get your Gems back; your back 100%... got it!" Ethan and Kira sat back down, "Do you think Conner gonna be alright?" Kira asked. "The _White Ranger_ is probably after Conner's Dino Gem so Conner just needs to distract _him_ long enough for Tommy to get there." "Okay then…" said Kira. "They'll be fine," said Hayley, "Tommy's the best there is."

Somewhere at some cliffs near Reefside…

Erica was lying down on a patch of grass overlooking the ocean, "Now what do I do?" she asked herself, "How do I go back to school and act like everything's normal….with those two in my class?" Chomper raised her head out of the water, "Elsa's gonna be looking for you." "She won't find me. I left my morpher and cell phone at home." "You really need to think about this?" "There're my classmates and she knew that….and she expects me…" "To do your job! She hasn't asked to kill them, only take their Dino Gems." "And I'm gonna have to fight them. They're gonna come look for their Dino Gems….and I'm going to have fight them…destroy them even…." "You won't be doing that, the Pink Ranger will be." "I am the Pink Ranger…" "Really? I thought you were Erica. I thought you left the Pink Ranger at home with your cell phone." Erica didn't reply but instead closed her eyes and meditated.

Somewhere in Reefside…..

The _White Ranger_ was walking down the block slashing everything in _his _way, "That's right, you'd better run!" The Red Ranger ran up to _him_, "Looking for someone?" said the Red Ranger holding his Thundermax Saber. "Just the Ranger I was looking for…." said the _White Ranger_ holding _his_ Drago Sword. "Where's your partner, I thought I'd be double teamed." "She made the mistake of letting you walk away, now I have to clean up _her_ mess." _"She refused an order...?" _thought the Red Ranger. _"Why would she do something like that….right…something happened…a thought got into her head and she just stopped fighting…."_ "Are you ready?" said the _White Ranger, _"'Cause I won't back down!" The Red Ranger stood his ground, "Do your worst, you're gonna pay for taking my friends Dino Gems!"

About a mile away from the fighting…..

"Can this thing go any faster?!" said Trent to Dr. Oliver. "I would love to push it but what excuse am I going to give to the officer when he pulls me over?" "We need to get to our friend so we can help him." "I think he's going to want a better excuse than that, Trent." "Your right Dr.O, let's tell the officer that we need to help our friend who thinks he's being attacked by me!" "Conner can hold out until we get there." "I hope your right…"

The Red Ranger was tossed against the wall de-morphing him outta Super Dino Mode. "Any last words?" said the _White Ranger _as he was walking towards the Red Ranger. "Yeah….take this!" said a voice as an explosion engulfed the _White Ranger. _The White Ranger held up his Drago Sword against the_ White Ranger. _The Black Ranger ran towards the Red Ranger, "Are you alright?" he said. "Yeah Dr. O I'm fine…." said the Red Ranger, "But, can you tell me which one is the real White Ranger 'cause I'm seeing double..." "Conner, Trent didn't betray us." "He didn't?" "Yeah…the other guys a doppelganger." "I can't believe I fell for a sham..." Trent raised his weapon, "You're gonna pay for framing me, faker!" The _White Ranger_ raised his weapon, "By the time I'm finished with you, no one will remember who you were!" Just then the two White Rangers disappeared. "Great…" said Conner, "He disappears before I can give an apology." "Where'd they go?" said Dr.O, "I don't know if Trent can handle fighting another _White Ranger…_" "Come on, what the worst that can happen?"

Elsa was watching the fight from their lair, "Zeltrax!" she screamed. "What?" asked Zeltrax as he was entering the lab. "We need to do down there and take the Black and Red Rangers' Dino Gems." "Where's the Pink Ranger?" "Not answering her communicator or her phone, so she's AWOL. We need to go now before they leave," she said as she left the lab. "What happened to the _White Ranger_?" asked Zeltrax following her out.

Trent and the _White Ranger_ reappeared on a beach, miles away from the fight, "Are you done running, Trent Mercer?" said the _White Ranger._ "Don't worry, I'm not running," _"I just needed to get as far away from them as possible…"_ said the White Ranger as he pulled out his weapon, "Laser Arrows!" The _White Ranger_ dodged the attack, pulled out _his_ Drago Sword, and charged at Trent. But before the _White Ranger _could strike him, the two of them were hit by a paralyzing force and both of them hit the ground.

At Anton Mercer's House

"How bad was this incident my mom was in?" "Steven…you really should ask your mom about this…." "You think she'd tell the truth?" "Maybe, if you're showing to be suspicious. She might tell the whole story to you." "And you won't?" "I can't. I wasn't there Steven, that's the first thing. The second thing is that the military allowed only an _x_ number of files to be released publically…many, many files are still under lock and key." "Okay, I get it. I'll only get some of the story from you and if I want the rest I'll interrogate my parents, happy? I just need to know what they would've done in my shoes." Dr. Mercer got up from his chair and went over to the bookshelf and pulled out an old notepad. As he flipped through his pages he kept muttering to himself. He sat back down, "Okay so she studied Biochemical Engineering…she met your father at military training base…He studied Aviation Engineering.." "I know this Mercer," said Steven sighing heavily. "Okay…okay….it looks like Dr. Roberts wrote a paper about a disease, "Weapon. Its' an advanced nerve gas….cure is heavy dose of (for the sake of simplicity) lots of drug cocktails…and its contagious. Her tested this gas on lab rats, she hypothesized that any country that gets hit with this disease could suffer from drug shortages in a matter of weeks."  
>"An hypothesis nonthe-" "If this disease was successfully absorbed by human DNA and if this disease was sold 'properly', Dr. Roberts would have been….very well off for the rest of her life…" "Where would you find 'volunteers' for this experiment?" "Well, when you have a boyfriend who can get his hands on a plane. The real problem is just finding the perfect third world country no-one gives a damn about." "No….they wouldn't-they couldn't…" "The bomb was dropped over the Amazon…" "So it contaminated a river, no big-" "The bomb hit a tribal village….300 people plus a dozen or so drug dealers smuggling in the area were hit with the illness. Some missionary from the U.K. was traveling through the area found them. Surprising the dead bodies found was just badly decayed, the disease was in their system but it wasn't contagious anymore." "Okay….so how did my parents get caught if this disease wasn't "real" yet? No one knew this disease existed yet…it was only real on paper, right?" The plane your parents used refueled at Guatemala…people took pictures…and someone reported that this U.S. plane was in the country….if five U.S. planes are allowed to be in that country at that time..." "What was that 'plane' that wasn't supposed to be there doing there?" asked Steven. "Exactly…" said Anton, "The plane number was on the one of the pictures…and it got traced back to your parents' base." "And everyone on the base is probably talking about a 'new disease' that your mom wrote about that being created…" "The pieces were being put together and your parents were arrested and charged with murder and unauthorized use of chemical warfare and a million of other charges." "Jesus…." "This trail was behind closed doors…honestly, your parents could've gotten off if they apologized and agreed to reproduce the drug for the U.S. gov't. Your dad apologized….you mom…didn't." "Did she give a reason why?" "She pleaded no contest….but before she was found guilty of anything…the court came upon a revelation." "Humph…what kind of revelation?" "Dr. Roberts' medical files were shown to the court; apparently, she was a few months pregnant…." "Oh great, get me involved in this case why don't you?" "If the military did go all out on your mom, punishment wise, it would've led to massive backlash from women's right groups. In the end, the courts decided she was 'mentally incompetent' and it'd be a violation of the 8th Amendment if she was given any type of punishment." "My mom is one of the most brilliant scientists of the world…." "The military lies about everything…this was put on her public record though. If Dr. Roberts ever wanted to get a job outside of the military…." "They wouldn't hire her because she's 'insane'." Steven got up and started pacing heavily around the room. "Steven…" said Anton. "My mom has two different records under her name….<em>publically she's insane….<em>military says she's a GENIUS! Heh, so what'd they give my dad, did they send him to an asylum in Japan?!" "No, he apologized publically…said he fell in love….men do stupid things when they're in love. The courts said he needs to be away from your mother, so they don't come up with any other 'crazy experiments' ever again." "And he chose Japan over the U.S. Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico because…." "Japan was the farthest U.S. ally, there would be…less problems…" "Less problems?" "Would you be able to visit your dad more often in the Puerto Rico or Japan?" "Considering that I don't need a passport for the P.R.…" "Exactly…" Steven sat down again, "How true is this document?" "All the documents I looked at pertaining to this case…the military wrote; so, I'd take it with a grain of salt. Steven, it's all about image; they need to show the world that they take crimes seriously, especially when one of their own does the deed." "My mom kept her mouth shut….why?" "I honestly believe she was a scientist that wanted to test out a hypothesis…millions of scientist do these 'experiments' that does or does not violate the Geneva Convention, does anyone stop them, no." "And my parents get caught and are being punished for the millions of scientist that aren't brought to trial…" "If they were a bit more cautious…they would never have been caught…" "Your thought is that my mom is just playing 'scientist' and what…she goes off and kills people. Claim it as an experiment gone wrong!" "Steven…" "So Mercer….how come you followed up on this case….you're a Dino guy not a….Biochemical Engineering guy." "First off, I was a Dino Guy, now I'm a plant guy. Second, the government gave a grant to study Dino DNA; part of the requirement is that I keep with military 'news' and your parents' court case was as big as Hiroshima at the time." "So that notepad…." "My own personal notes at the time…closed trial means closed to civilians. If you think you need these notes…." "I do, unless you know how to access the military files." "My contact with the military is…over, so I have no access." Mercer handed over the notepad to Steven, "What got you so interested in looking over your mother's file? Don't you think she has a right to privacy?" "She kept her mouth shut when her life was on the line because she didn't want to reveal her secret. I'm wondering if I know anyone who is just as dedicated as she is. And how far would this 'dedication road' take her?" Steven got up and left the room. Anton waited until he heard the front door close, "I wonder if he's talking about Erica…." He closed his eyes and thought of Erica, _"He comparing Erica to his mother…how dedicated is Erica? To Mesogogs' cause no doubt but….Steven saw Erica demorph when she was in front of the Yellow and Blue Rangers demorphed. Will Erica still work with Mesogog despite the fact that she's facing off against her classmates….For her sake she'd better."_

Back at the cliffs…

Erica shot up and brushed the sweat from her forehead. "Problem?" asked Chomper. "I felt Mesogogs presence…" "No surprise there, we're telepathically connected to him ever since he got his claws on a piece of your Dino Gem." "That's fine, but when I feel Mesogog I see Him in my head….Not this case though I saw…someone different." "Who'd ya see then?" "My dad….Anton…."

Trent woke up and picked himself up. He started walking away from the _White Ranger _who was still unconscious. "I really want to get you back…but I need to help my friends first." Trent easily found an Invisi-portal and went through it. Before Trent entered the lab he activated his Dino Gem and rendered himself invisible. He slowly walked into the lab, _"I must be walking into a trap….where is everyone?" _Trent saw the Blue and Yellow Gems on a table, _"This is WAY too easy…." _Trent grabbed the Gems and started walking out of the lab, _"I wouldn't be surprised if these were fake-but then-where are Elsa and Zeltrax?" _

The Red Ranger took a few steps forward, "Where'd they go?" "Far away from here…Conner you're in no condition to fight _him_. We need to take the opportunity Trent's given us and get back to base and regroup, okay?" "Yeah, okay." The Red and Black Ranger turned around to see Elsa and Zeltrax with a squad of Tyrannodrones behind them. "Let's see," said Elsa, "Me and my friends versus the two of you…how long do you think you two can last?" "Long enough to take care of you!" said the Black Ranger. He turned to the Red Ranger, "You ready?" The Red Ranger took a fighting stance, "I'm right behind you!"

The alarm went off at the Ranger's hideout. "Hayley, you can't expect us to sit back and watch them get they killed!" said Ethan. "I don't like it any more than you do, but the least I can do is keep the body count down." Kira, Ethan, and Hayley heard a noise and turned around to see Trent at the bottom of the stairs breathing heavily. "Trent?" said Kira. Trent held up a finger, "Promise me you won't ask any questions?" "Ummm…okay?" said Ethan, "What do you want to tell us?" Trent ran towards Kira and Ethan and put something in their hands. Kira and Ethan held up their hands to see their Dino Gems. "Don't ask! Just get the hell out and back them up!" said Trent. "You don't have to tell me twice!" said Ethan as he ran out. Kira stood there staring at her Dino Gem, "What are you waiting for? Get-" "I knew you didn't betray us…." said Kira as she kissed him. Trent stood frozen as Kira followed Ethan out. "Whoa…." said Trent. "Earth to Trent," said Hayley, "How did you get their Dino Gems back?" Trent smiled, "Sorry but I did tell you not to ask any questions," "Fair enough," said Hayley, "Now…are you going to back up your friends or not?" "I'm going, I'm going…." said Trent leaving, _"they're not gonna need my help, this fight is personal and I'm gonna left them have it!"_

The Black Ranger took on Zeltrax and half of the Tyrannodrones while the Red Ranger took on Elsa and the other half. "I will see you destroyed, Dr. Tommy Oliver!" screamed Zeltrax as he tried to attack the Black Ranger, but the Black Ranger blocked it "For the millionth time, I have no idea what you're on about!" "You really don't remember me, huh?" Zeltrax took a few steps back, "I'm the man you took everything from!" Zeltrax launched a series of strikes against the Black Ranger, "Remember we were head to head fighting for the job Anton Mercer offered us!" The Black Ranger dodged, "And Mercer…picked…you!" The Black Ranger took the attack full on and took several steps back, "It can't be…Smitty? That accident…." "Zeltrax launched another attack and the Black Ranger dodged the attack, "I would never have been in that accident if it wasn't for you!" Zeltrax charged up his sword, "I will finally have my revenge!" "I don't think so!" The Yellow Ranger jumped off a building and shot down on Zeltrax, which he took the full hit. As Zeltrax staggered back, the Yellow Ranger held up her Thundermax Saber. "That's impossible!" said Zeltrax, "We have your Gems!" "Not anymore you don't!" Zeltrax retreated and saw Elsa, "What happened?" she asked. "The Yellow Ranger came-" "The Blue Ranger came to my fight…." She said. "Who could've?" "Who else knows the locations of the Invisi-portals besides us?" "Trent Mercer…." Said Zeltrax, "The _White Ranger_ failed…" "We need to figure to either figure out our next strategy or explain to Mesogog why we left the lair undefended! Let's go!" Elsa and Zeltrax retreated into an Invisi-Portal.

As the Rangers regrouped, "How did you guys get your Dino Gems back?" asked the Red Ranger. "Trent got them back for us," said the Yellow Ranger. "Why would he do such a stupid thing like that?" asked the Black Ranger shaking his head. "Dr.O, we all saw the _White Ranger_ and assumed it was Trent without batting an eye. He needed to show us he was on our side," said the Blue Ranger. "Yeah but doing something so reckless…He could've gotten captured…or worse…" "Speaking of Trent…" started the Red Ranger, "Where is he?"

The _White Ranger_ woke up and sat up to see the White Ranger sitting across from _him _with his Drago Sword out. "How long have I been out?" "Long enough to let me sneak into your base to take back the Dino Gems…" The _White Ranger_ took a fighting pose, "You'll pay for that!" "Don't bother coming after me, the last time we charged at each other we were knocked out cold…." "Have you figured it out yet, Trent Mercer? Do you know who I am?" "I'm gonna guess, you're one of Zeltraxs' pet projects…a duplicate of the _invincible _White Ranger, heh, you're just a clone….an empty shell with my Dino Gem power…." "What are you're doing here? You're not here to fight..." "No, I'm not at full strength anymore since you woke up…I just needed to know how much power you are taking outta my Dino Gem," said the White Ranger as he started to leave. "I'm not done with you!" "Yes you are…because I'm not the one who needs to explain to Mesogog how you let me take those Dino Gems out of the lab." The White Ranger continued on his way while the _White Ranger Clone _went into the Invisi-Portal.

Back at the cliffs…..

"Hey…Chomper." "Yeah?" "What did you mean, about me not being the Pink Ranger when I am?" "Erica, would you disobey Mesogog?" "No, he saved my life." "Would the Pink Ranger betray him?" "No, he…gave her life…gave me this power…." "Okay, so if Mesogog wanted you to kill Kira and Ethan, would you?" "No." "You just said he saved your life." "I can't go that far, my life isn't worth theirs." "Okay, but when he asked you to take the Pink and Blue Ranger Gems you'd had no problem." "I see a big difference between those two examples." "Erica, what would happen if your Dino Gem were taken, would the Pink Ranger still exist?" "Yeah" "How, a Ranger cannot materialize unless its bond with human DNA, if you didn't have the Pink Gem…how could the Pink Ranger come to life? The Pink Ranger wouldn't come to life without you. " "….So, your point?" "You were willing to kill the Blue and Yellow Rangers but you're not willing to kill Kira and Ethan." "I wasn't killing the Blue and Yellow Rangers…." "No, you weren't. The Pink Ranger was. The Pink Ranger was willing to kill someone….something you won't do." "They were still alive!" "Kira and Ethan were still alive! Not the Blue and Yellow Rangers! Do you understand anything I'm telling you?" Erica was silent for about a minute trying to organize her thoughts, "So, the Blue and Yellow Rangers wouldn't exist without Ethan and Kira. They are connected…." "Yes and No. Ethan can survive without the Gem but the Ranger can't survive without Ethan." "So there…two different people? Ethan and the Blue Ranger…. Kira and the Yellow Ranger and…" "You and the Pink Ranger are two different people. The Pink Ranger is willing to take a life for Mesogog, you're not. The Pink Ranger is one of Mesogog pawns, not you. The Pink Ranger needs you, but you don't need the Pink Ranger." "Chomper, this theory of yours is flawed." "How so?" "Who is getting punished for not responding to Elsa's calls, me or her?" "That is a minor exception to the overall picture." "A minor exception?! I'd be dead if Mesogog didn't give me the Pink Ranger! I am her and she is me…" "Erica, when you are the Pink Ranger you have to obey Mesogog. But as Erica, do you have to?" Erica let out a heavy sigh, "I don't know…."

At the Eide household….

The ringing was so loud everyone in the house could hear it. By the third ring it aggravated Dr. Roberts enough to get her out of the study. "Steven, get the damn phone!" She received no response. "He must be out," she murmured as she walked over and answered the phone. "Hello?" "Hello, ." "Hello, Dr. I-Blew-Up-An-Island, how are you today." "Are you in high spirits todays, or did I pull you away from your work?" asked Anton. "What do you think? Make whatever you say fast, I want to get back to my research." "Fair enough, Steven came over asking about your reputation." "Like?" "Well, why are you and your husband separated?" "A divorce, why?" "Really? Then why were the two of you put on trial? So why does your 'ex' husband need permission from the U.S., the U.K. and Japan before he can come over here." "What the hell did you tell Steven?" "I just gave him some notes I wrote about the trial, with all the important details written in short hand so he won't be able the figure out certain details." "Like?" "Like the fact high amounts of ammonium nitrate in a liquid form was found in the bodies. Steven thinks you actually went and dropped a nerve bomb on those poor people." "And you didn't tell him the truth…why?" "I told him that I got all my notes from the military, and you know how they like to tell the truth, I told him if he wanted the whole story to ask you." "I'm flattered, I'll remember this Anton when Erica comes asking about you, Goodbye." She had half a mind to slam the phone down but Dr. Robert slowly put the receiver down. She went back into her study and pulled out her netbook from under some books. She logged online and sent a message out:

_To: JuDoMaStEr1_

_Subject: Steven_

_Message: He wants to know the truth, what should we tell him?_

She clicked 'Send'. She knew she'd expect an answer within 48 hours and he would probably answer, _"We should tell him together and let him decide whether he would forgive us or hate us for it. We should've fought harder and we didn't. It was David and Goliath and we couldn't take down the giant…." _

Dr. Roberts shut down the computer and went to bed early that night.

End of Chapter 16

Sorry this chapter took so long, I keep getting hit with writers block, and school started for me, which is a real bummer. I update in the coming weeks (hopefully) Thanks to all my faithful followers, I love each and every one of you.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Gem**

**Chapter Seventeen **

Anton was doing work in his study when Trent came home. Trent went straight into the kitchen, "Is Erica home yet?" "No, why are you asking?" Trent came into the study, locked the door, and sat across from Anton with a cup of soda in his hand, "So, how pissed is He today?" "He's always pissed off, maybe with the exception of today, why?" "What was the point of creating a fake White Ranger?" "Well, after you joined up with the Rangers, Elsa and Zeltrax were in the mood for a bit of revenge…." "And framing me for taking Kira and Ethan's Dino Gems was just an added bonus…." "Of course, what else would it be?" _"What is Trent getting at, Mercer?" (How should I know?)_ "And the Pink Ranger was there to make it all the more convincing, since I was the one who 'destroyed' her." "Weren't you prepared to quit the team?" "I was, only because they thought I was a traitor. After seeing the _White Ranger _with my own eyes I can hardly blame them for thinking it was me." "Get to the point Trent." "I got them back." "What back?" "The Dino Gems." Anton paused from his paperwork and looked up at Trent. "I knew that get your attention." It took a few seconds for Anton to find the words, "How?" "Well…Elsa and Zeltrax were trying to get Conner and Dr.O's Dino Gems and I accidently knocked out the _White Ranger_. "How is 'accidently'?" "I honestly don't know, we charged at each other and we were both knocked out cold. I was the first one up." "Okay, but how did you get past the Pink Ranger?" "I didn't see her." "What?" _"How could you NOT see her? She was on duty!" _"She wasn't there; I thought she was with Elsa and Zeltrax…" "Trent…" said Anton as he got up, "Why are you telling me this?" "I was telling it more for Mesogogs' sake more than you." Trent finished his soda and was leaving the study, "Oh, I left the lab in one piece. If I get framed again …I'll be sure to burn the place to the ground next time." Trent unlocked and opened the door at the same time Erica came in the front door. "Hey Erica, where have you been?" "Having a life. I got homework to do so I'm heading up to my room. Can you tell Dad I came home?" "No problem, see you tomorrow."

Anton heard Erica go upstairs and followed her. _"How could you let this happen? Why would she leave the base defenseless?" (Why are you blaming me? You have more control over her than I do!) _"Erica." "Yo." She stuck her head out of her room. "Where were you today?" "Out…" "How was today…at work?" "Nothing special." "Are you sure?" "Why don't you ask _your _friend?" "Are you avoiding the question?" "Dad…the less you know about my job…the better off you'll be." "Erica!" She smiled, "I got homework to do. See ya." Erica closed the door to her room. _"Why the hell is she smiling about? She's responsible for losing the Dino Gems!" (I don't think she knows, she be pissed off if that was the case. You saw her, she went out of her way to get those Dino Gems…and then to lose them. It doesn't make any sense…) "We shouldn't have left the base! This is just as much your fault as it is hers!"(Why don't you just ask Elsa tomorrow why she left the base defenseless? It's one thing if Elsa did leave the base but it's another case if the Pink Ranger left the base. I'm trying to wrap my head around why she would leave….) _

Dr. Robert's woke up after a few hours. She went into Steven's room; he was sleeping on his bed with a notepad right next to him. "This stuff must be really boring to you, huh?" she murmured to herself. She took the notepad from under Steven and went into her study. She sat down and started flipping through the pages and read through some notes. "Is Mercer with me or against me? I can't tell…" She saw some Chemistry symbols about Ammonium Nitrate:

NH4NO3

(NH3)2SO2+3NANO1- 2NH4NO3+Na2SO4

"How did he know what type of bomb we had on the plane? It was never mentioned in the trial, or was it? I can't remember…." She kept flipping through some more pages when she saw an old piece of paper sticking out. She pulled it out and un-folded it:

**NOTHING MATCHES STOP WILL LOOK INTO FILES STOP NO SUSPECTS PALEONTOLOGY STOP WHAT ARE THEY HIDING STOP SABOTAGE**

"What does Mercer know about Organic Chemistry, he was a Bone guy….what does he know about making a fertilizer bomb?" She returned the paper into the notepad and brought it back into Steven's room. She went back into her room and logged on to her email. She got a new message from _JuDoMaStEr1; she opened it. _

_Message: As soon as I win the Martial Arts Tournament I'll send him The Suit. There's a girl involved. I wonder if she's worth it. _

"Erica…" whispered Angela, "What the hell are you involved in?"

Angela shut down the computer and lay down on the bed, "Why did Mercer bother giving Steven the notepad, did he _want_ me to go looking through it? What the hell is Erica involved in that Steven needed to go ask Him about my case? Is her case just as bad as mine or….worse?"

The next day (around 6 am)….

Erica's phone went off, startling her out of bed. "Who the hell calls at 6am?" She checked the phone, _"I don't recognize the number; I should ignore it." _She clicked the green button, "Hello?" "Hey Erica, you awake?" "I am now…" _"I know this voice, where do I know his voice from…" _"Trent gave me your number yesterday…I wanted to ask if you could tutor me for the test Monday?" "Ethan?" "Yeah, Sorry about that…." "Trent gave you my number?" "Yeah, he told me to call you early so I can beat anyone else that wants your help." "O.K…." said Erica stretching… "What's today?" "Umm…Friday?" "Right…I'm busy today...tomorrow…how about Sunday?" "That's fine." "Hey, umm, which Ethan am I talking to?" "Ethan James." "Right, sorry, I'm a bit out of it right now, people calling me at 6 am can do that to me." "Sorry." "No, it's…" _(Erica mid flashed back to yesterday's fight when she took his Dino Gem…) _"It's fine Ethan, does 11am sound good?" "That's perfect." "Alright, see ya." Erica put down her phone, "Did I really just agree to tutor Ethan after what happened yesterday, after what I did?" _"You didn't do that, the Pink Ranger did." _"Right, I need to keep my lives separate…I can't be responsible for what the Pink Ranger does…Even when I'm in full control of her actions." Erica picked up her phone to check her Notifications: **10 Missed Calls**. "Damn, maybe I should've brought my phone yesterday, or maybe everyone got wiped out yesterday and I don't have to go to work anymore…." Erica was finished getting dressed when her phone rang, "Great who else did Trent give my number to?" She checked her phone…it was HER number, "So much for everyone getting wiped out…" "Hello?" "Did you find your phone?" "Yeah… it was under my bed…" "I need you at headquarters now!" "Why, I got school." "Because, if you want to give your excuse to Mesogog why you screwed up yesterday's mission, you better come now." "Screw up? How the hell did I-" Elsa hung up on her. "That isn't good," murmured Erica. "Are you coming down 'cause I'm leaving," said Trent. "I'm playing Hooky today…" said Erica at the top of the stairs. "Don't you want to be there for the review?" "The entire test is going to be taken from the Chapter Review pages Trent. It won't be a hard test." "Says you Dino-Brain!" "Funny." "Have you seen Dad? I need some money." "Maybe he's out buying you a town." "Ohhh…clever." "Trent, you want $20?" "What do I have to do?" "One, stop giving people my number; I'm not some Study Genie, alright?" "Fine." "Second, don't tell Dad I'm cutting school." "That's easy; just erase the Answering Message before dad checks it." "Okay then here you go." A paper airplane flew down to Trent; he unfolded it to reveal a twenty dollar bill. "Show off." "I know, see you later." Trent left the house, "Okay, just wait five minutes and follow him out."

At Mesogogs Lair…..

"Can the three of you explain how you lost the Dino Gems?" "We temporarily left the base undefended…" said Zeltrax. "What possessed you to do _that_?" The Pink Ranger entered the lab. "If the three of you won't give me an explanation let me ask the Pink Ranger." Mesogog turned to the Pink Ranger, "Where were _you_ yesterday?" "That depends…" "Don't forget that we're telepathically connected in case you want to lie." The Pink Ranger signed, "When did you leave?" "After you beat the Red Ranger." "We got the Dino Gems, we returned to base, Elsa fixed my morpher, and I handed over the Dino Gems _to her_. Then I left." "Why?" "I needed to settle an issue, privately; I don't think I would have been fit to fight unless I got over that obstacle." "Did you do this before or after Elsa left the base?" "Before, I wouldn't have risked leaving the base undefended; we worked too hard to let those Gems out of our gasp now." "Well, that what happened!" Mesogog walked away from her, "I hold all four of you responsible for the loss of the Dino Gems, you…" Mesogog pointed at the Pink Ranger, "for leaving your post prematurely. You…" pointing at the White Ranger clone, "You decided to take your fight to the White Ranger instead of backing up Elsa and Zeltrax, _where you were needed_. And you two….despite the fact you two _knew_ the Pink Ranger left, you decided to take the chance of getting the other Dino Gems by leaving the base. And now we have NO Dino Gems! All four of you are ordered to the Punishment Chamber!" "But, Mesogog-" the Pink Ranger stated. Mesogog extended and opened his claw to reveal the broken part of the Pink Dino Gem. He gripped it tightly in his claw and the Pink Ranger fell on one knee. "I could've sworn that you were questioning an order…" Elsa, Zeltrax, and the White Ranger Clone watched their comrade take her punishment, _"I thought Mesogog was bluffing when he said he had some of her power…."_ thought Elsa. "No, I…wasn't…I merely forgot my place," the Pink Ranger said in a weak voice. Mesogog released the Dino Gem piece and the Pink Ranger (it looked like the Pink Ranger was released from some grip) landed on both knees breathing heavily. Mesogog looked at Elsa, Zeltrax, and the White Ranger Clone, "I thought I told you to report to the Punishment Chamber….you two," pointing to some Tyrannodrones, "take the Pink Ranger there now!" The Tyrannodrones carried the Pink Ranger with Elsa, Zeltrax, and the White Ranger Clone following behind. "That wasn't a Telepathic Attack…was it?" asked the White Ranger Clone. "No," said Elsa, "I think Mesogog actually drained some of the Pink Rangers' energy out of her…." "How?" "I don't know," said Elsa, "I thought he was lying when He said he could do it…until now." The Pink Ranger was put in the Chamber first. The Tyrannodrones started up the machine but the Pink Ranger didn't make a sound. "You'd think she'll at least scream…" "Either she's focusing all her energy to block the Chambers' energy blast or…." _"What is the point of screaming; it's not like it will let her out any earlier…_" After all four of them were put into the Chambers, Mesogog made his rounds looking at each of them. When he reached the Pink Ranger's chamber he felt Mercer fighting for control…

"No you don't Mercer…She's not coming out until her time is up!" Mercer was still fighting him, "If you take her out early, I'll put her back in tomorrow! And the next day if you keep this up!" Mesogog felt he was winning this fight, "What makes her so different from Tent!" Mesogog felt Mercer retreating, "You didn't take Trent out of the Punishment Chamber! What makes HER so special, no, different! She joined my team just as willingly as Trent!" _"Those are two different circumstances and you know it!" _Mercer gave up the fight. "When her punishment is over, you can take her out and tell her everything, but I know you won't….she finally trusts you as a father."

At school…..

"Hey Trent," said Steven, "Have you seen Erica? I need to talk to her." Trent looked around the classroom for signs of Dr.O, when he saw the coast was clear, Trent sketched two pictures, one of a hook, the other, a key.

"Hmmm, Hook….Key. Hook Key. Hook Key." "You might want to try to read them fast." "Hook-Key. Hooky! Ohhh, well, didn't she pick a good day to do that!" _"Maybe she saw me yesterday and she's afraid to face me…." _"What do you mean?" "Ohh, umm, you know…the test. The kids in our class are gonna pester Erica for help with the review." Ethan approached Steven and Trent, "Thanks for her number Trent; Erica agreed to help me on Sunday." "No problem Ethan." When Ethan waked away Steven gave a hard look at Trent, "Sooo, you're giving Erica's number away to every guy in school now, huh?" _"And to Ethan of all people…" _"What? No, only Ethan." "Uh-huh, and if I get dumped over the weekend I'm blaming you!" Steven saw Dr. O come into the classroom and took his seat. "Alright, its looks like everyone's here….except Eric, Trent?" "She said she knows what going to be on the test so she doesn't need to come." "Well then, why am I here?" "Well, your different…you're the teacher…" Dr.O sighed, "Alright then, the test will be on Chs.15-20, so just study the chapter reviews and you are guaranteed an 80." Trent put his head on the desk. "Let me guess…" "That what Erica told me this morning…." "What else would I test you on? _What tools would you need on a dig site?_" The class burst into laughter. "Okay, everyone, lets settle down and get cracking on the review…"

After class….

Conner, Ethan, and Kira were getting up from their desks and were leaving the room, "Jeez…this test looks like a breeze. I can't believe I asked Erica for help!" "There's no shame in it…maybe she can give you a few pointers on the multiple choice…" "Hey guys…." All three of them turned around to see Steven, "Hey Steven, what's up?" asked Conner. "I was wondering if I could talk to you guys….in the film department room." "Yeah sure, but why there?" "It's…a private matter…for your ears…"_ "I really should wait for Erica…."_ "Are you guys okay with it?" asked Conner. "Yeah, no problem," said Ethan. Conner, Ethan, and Kira followed Steven into the Film Dept. Room, "I thought Cassidy and Devin are in this room during lunch…" asked Ethan. "They are, but today they need to interview the Vice-Principal over funding, and since Randall is absent…they figure they have a chance of getting an _accepted proposal_, but they need to ask today." Steven closed and locked the door. "Hey man, is everything alright?" asked Ethan nervously. "No…its' not. I don't even know where to begin. Umm…I know." "You know what?" asked Kira. "I know you're the Power Rangers: Red, Blue…Yellow…" They looked at each other nervously. "Steven, we happen to like those colors hence, why we are wearing them," said Conner. "I saw you yesterday…fighting the _White Ranger_ and you lost….I saw Ethan and Kira demorph. Are you saying you're not a Ranger…Conner?" "I am." Ethan made a heavy sigh, "You're the one who attacked _it_…." "Yeah, and I got hit pretty hard too." "Why?" "You guys saved me and Erica plenty of times…I figured I owed you." "So you came here to tell us that we're Ranger and you're not gonna tell anyone…so we're even now?" "Yes and No. I need a favor." "What kind of favor?" "Ethan, I need you to stay away from Erica…no, ummm….I want the three of you to help her." "Why, is she in trouble?" "Yeah and since you are…Rangers, you could help her." "Yeah, definitely, so what's the problem?" "Right…" said Steven. He reached into his bag and pulled out a disk, _"I'm sorry Erica, but I don't know how else I can help you…." _He put the disk inside a DVD player and adjusted the setting and it started to play the fight from yesterday. Conner, Ethan, Kira watched the fight, "Hey man, we already been through this_ once_…." started Ethan. "I didn't see this fight….If I had known…I would've been there…" said Conner.

"_No…it's just…they look so weak when they're not in their Ranger form, that's all." "So are you, but you don't see me complaining." "Really…?" The Pink Ranger demorphed. "I think I rather intimidating….Dammit I demorphed again!"_

Steven paused the video. "Steven…." "Yeah?" "Is this some Film Trick you're learning?" asked Kira. "No." "This is bad…." said Ethan. "And you only found out yesterday?" asked Conner. "Hence why I'm here. You guys have to help her!" "We don't have to do anything!" said Ethan, "You were there…filming the other day…when she froze the Yellow Ranger…._Kira_…AND you want us to help her? So she can figure out how to beat us again…" "That's not what I want…I think she needs help…" "From what?" Conner asked. "The people she's working for! They are making her do this…" "I'm sure she knows what she's doing…" said Kira. "Dammit….The White Ranger changed sides….WHY NOT HER!" All three of them were struck by something. "Did I say something?" Steven asked. All three of them looked at each other. "It's complicated…" said Conner. "You're supposed to be the Good Guys…you can't… not help her…." "Steven…we'll give you an answer Monday, okay?" said Kira. Steven sat down on a chair and nodded. "Can we keep the disk?" "It's a copy, so do what you want." Conner and Ethan unlocked the door and left. Kira put away the disk, "Steven…we can't guarantee anything…but we'll try." "Thanks." When Kira left the room Conner and Ethan were over by the lockers, "What do you make of it," asked Conner. Ethan shook his head, "Any more twist and turn and this has the material of a M. Night Shyamalan movie…" "Alright lets' see what _he _has to say…" Conner, Ethan, and Kira went into the Faculty Cafeteria where Dr.O was eating lunch. "Hey Dr. O, can we get out of next class?" 'What for?" "Tutoring session…we really need help studying for that test…all five of us." "All right I'll get you out, but it better be serious…."

At Mesogogs' Lair….

The timer ran out and the machine shut itself down. When the Punishment Chamber capsule opened, the Pink Ranger demorphed and fell into someone's arms. Mercer picked Erica up and carried her out of the lab. Erica struggled to open her eyes but she only saw a blurred image…of a face she recognized, "Dad…" she whispered. "Shhh…It's alright, you're out now…" "What are you doing here….no…you can't be…" She closed her eyes again. Mercer carried Erica into her room and put her to bed. "I'm so sorry Erica," he said as he put the covers on her, "I promise we'll talk after you get some sleep." He left her room feeling guilty, "There's no way to avoid it now…" The doorbell rang. "Great…who can that be?"

Anton opened the door to find Angela Roberts standing there, "We need to talk."

End of Chapter 17

Sorry this chapter took so long, I keep getting hit with writers block (and school). I am not a science person, those Chemistry symbols I made off the top of my head, so they are all fake! I don't want to get arrested for giving someone a dangerous chemistry compound!

The only reason I was actually able to finish this chapter is that Sandy closed the schools. But my professors were kind enough to send me homework for the week. (Yay…. :( ) When you're reading this…please keep the people suffering from Sandy in your thoughts/prayers. I'm in NY so I know what you're going through. Thank You.

AllOtaku92


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Gem**

**Chapter Eighteen**

At school…

As soon as Dr. O managed to get a T.V/DVD player in the classroom Kira put the disc in the DVD player. The whole team watched the video from beginning to end. As soon as the 'movie' was over, Conner turned to Trent, "Well Trent?" said Conner, "Do you have an excuse for us?" Trent was shaking his head, "If I had a good one, you wouldn't believe me." "How could you _not know_ who she was?" asked Dr. O. "We're both gone most of the day, I only see her at school and when I get home and that's when she comes home." "Really?" said Ethan. "She told me she works at the museum lab; I thought my dad hooked her up because she wants to be a paleontologist." "The museum lab?" asked Dr. O. "Well, you know that's a lie. Museums don't have labs," said Ethan. "Museums need a place to authenticate bones; some people do call it a lab," said Dr. O. "Isn't that what a dig site is for?" "Bones have been known to disappear traveling between museums and dig sites. Because of the all the money invested in buying bones, museum added a 'lab' as a safety measure. But, that's beside the point though." "She's my sister, I would like to believe her if she told me she had a job." "And it's not like she would admit she was a Ranger to Trent," said Conner as he turned to Dr. O., "Steven wants us to help her." "She's working for Mesogog." "He thinks she's being forced." "Any evidence? Steven is madly in love with her. What if this was her choice to join up with Mesogog?" "What if it isn't?" said Conner. "Why the hell are you convinced she's innocent?" said Ethan. Conner turned back to Ethan "Because, when I was fighting her yesterday, she walked away." "You were demorphed because _she_ demorphed you!" "Yeah but that was after she walked away. I…charged after her and she defended herself by de-morphing me." "And she didn't take your Dino Gem?" "No…she told me _'I want to fight you again so don't do anything stupid'_ and she left. She only walked away because she didn't want to listen to _The Voice._" "A voice?" "Yeah it told her to kill me." "And she ignored it?" "I think so. I just don't think we should be walking away from her if there is a voice telling her what to do." "And if this is a trap…Trent pulled this stunt on us before, remember? Pretends to turn good and then WHAM, rigs an ATV to go berserk on Dr.O." "Can I say something?" said Kira. Conner, Ethan, and Dr.O forgot she was there. "I remember Erica rescuing me when she didn't have to; you guys said she even held up the White Ranger to do that. And yet…I'm still scared of fighting her as the Pink Ranger. I want to think she's good, Trent, I really do, but…. I was terrified when she froze me in that ice block. And I'm still scared she'll pull that stunt on me again." Conner sighed, "If Steven's right (and I'm not saying he is), that she is in trouble, it's our job to help her. But if he's wrong then we have to stop her." "Conner…" said Dr. O, "this isn't an easy decision to make. I think we all learned from Trent how hard the road to redemption is. We had to fight Trent a few times before he became 'good'. " "And if I decide she is worth the risk and any of us gets hurt trying to 'save' her…" "It's these decisions that make a leader, Conner. It's your choice." Trent sat quietly away from the group, _"How the hell did I not know? Between me being evil and trying to get them to accept me I've ignored her, if I just paid a bit more attention, I could've…"_ "Trent!" said Conner leaning back on his chair, "Do you think she's capable of all her 'evilness' as the Pink Ranger or do you think Mesogog is playing puppet-master?" Trent smirked, "Let's see…she took me on twice while I was evil, once saving Kira. And then she took on a mutant that was terrorizing people, all without any powers. So you tell me: Is she evil 'cause I don't think so." Conner smirked, "And here I thought you were giving me 'she's my sister' excuse." He turned to the rest of the team, "We need to make an effort to help her. But first we need to level the playing field." "Tell her?" said Dr.O. "Yeah, Trent you think you can arrange a meeting between us?" "I think I can do something better," said Ethan.

Back at Mercer's House….

Roberts sat down on a sofa with Anton sitting across from her in the study "Dr. Roberts, Erica is…not feeling well right now. If she wakes up, I'm gonna ask you to leave." "I just want to know why?" "Why what?" "Everything: why did you give Steven your 'notes' and why did you give me a call about it?" "So he wouldn't ambush you." "How much did you really know?" "If you read my notes instead of glancing them you would know…" Angela stared at him. "Okay, okay." Anton went over to his desk and pulled out a large booklet and put it on the table between him and Angela. "Start reading…" he said. Angela took it and started reading it while Anton was talking over, "I am planning on getting this published…" "This is…." "Yes. It would look familiar to your project from many years ago: The fertilizer bomb that exploded over the Amazon…" "It wasn't a bomb!" "I know that, you know that, half the scientific and military community knows that. The only people who don't know… is the public." "Why is the government approving your version?" "Because I followed proper channels." "You mean you sold it to them." "Angela, if you had told the government about your report… about this "Project": that it is capable of fertilizing ANY soil in the world, by mutating it, what do you think would happen?" "They would have sold it to the highest bidder." "Correct." "That's not why I created this Project; I made this Project to help people. We were gonna spray it on some unused land in Africa so people wouldn't inhale the poison and then plant some seeds and watch it grow. We were going to change the world." "And yet…your plane malfunctioned and the Project was dropped over the Amazon where some native tribesmen lived." "It wasn't an accident, it was sabotage." "I really don't care, all I know is the government took possession of your 'report', but they didn't know what to do with it, they didn't understand it." "And you cracked the code so now you can reap the benefits." Mercer leaned back on the sofa. "What was the point of telling me all this?" "I want you to put your name on this with me." "What?" "You heard me." "You're kidding right? What game are you playing?" "No game. If I publish it here and now I feel like I'm stealing it from you…" "Forget it…" Angela got up from where she was sitting and stretched, "I got screwed by the government once. I won't give them another chance; they might take Steven this time." "Angela…" "Look, I'll pretend we never had this conversation. You're looking for authentication aren't you? People might not take this report seriously if only your name is on it, right?" Mercer didn't say a word. "Mercer, if I put my name on it right next to you, we're both going to jail, and considering what we writing about, we'd get sent to Guantanamo." Angela started walking towards the door, "Oh, if you do get your ass arrested let me know, I'll take care of Trent and Erica for you, alight? Thanks for the offer." Angela walked out the study when Trent came home from school, "Hi, Trent," said Angela as she left the house. "Umm..hi?" _"Who is this woman?"_ Trent entered the study when he saw his dad putting away some papers in his desk; Trent could've sworn he heard his dad say, "At least I know you two are taken care of if the inevitable comes…" "Hey dad who was that woman that left?" Mercer did not hear Trent come in, "A friend." "Really?" "Steven's mom, we were having a 'battle of wits' so to speak." "Okay…"said Trent as he closed the door. Anton has a feeling he knew what Trent was going to ask. "Why didn't you tell me about Erica?" "As soon as you tell me how you found out?" "Steven found out and he let us know who she is." "I remember seeing him yesterday but I wasn't sure how much film he got…" "He got Kira, Ethan, and Erica." Anton nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?" "Let me tell you a story first." "No! I want to know-" "Yesterday when the Pink and Red Ranger were fighting, Mesogog told her to kill him. Erica refused. I didn't like the fact that Mesogog was giving Erica those _thoughts_ so I started fighting with Him. While I was taking control, I didn't look at the screen; we didn't know the Pink and _White _Ranger collected the Dino Gems… And Mesogog would've stayed ignorant of the fact that Elsa, Zeltrax, the _White_ and Pink Ranger collected and then LOST the Dino Gems if it wasn't for you." "Why are you-" "You opened you mouth and claimed that the Pink Ranger left the base defenseless so He sought fit to punish her today." "Wait what happened to Erica? She…she got…You're blaming this on me? Isn't it just as much your fault for getting her involved in all this? Why the hell is she even working for Mesogog?" "Because Mesogog was able to do something the Great Dr. Tommy Olivier can't do, control a powerful Dino Gem." "Is she really that powerful?" "I gave Mesogog an Ultimatum: either He gets you or Erica working for Him, not both." "Or else?" "I'd tell Tommy everything." "You'd really do that?" "I really didn't care what happened to me. I was more concerned what happened to you two." "So Mesogog picked Erica." "Yeah." Trent sat on the couch, Mercer sat across from him, "As soon as Erica recovers we're having a 'family' talk, we're telling her everything." "About the Rangers?" "And me." "She didn't know?" "Not until today, well that's still up for debate. I don't know if she knows we're one or that I'm working for him." "What the hell does that mean?" "I don't know if Erica knows if me and Mesogog are two people or one." "That's kinda important, don't you think?" "She's alone Trent, I needed her to think she could confide in someone." "And you thought you were the perfect candidate to help her?" "Not the perfect candidate; the only candidate." "Not me?" "You were too busy trying to get the Rangers to accept you; you're already hiding my secret, do you really want to add your sister's secret to the list." "No, but it's not like they believed me when I said I had no idea she was the Pink Ranger." "At least it was the truth." *CRASH*

Mercer and Trent looked up towards the ceiling. "Well, Erica's up," said Anton. "So what she smashed?"

Erica tossed her alarm clock across the room, "Mercer….Mesogog…it was all a trap…" _"What else did you expect?"_ "Not that…." _"Makes sense." _"Am I supposed to believe you didn't know?" _"I don't care that Mercer was working for Mesogog and neither should you. _"He's my dad_. _He's the one who put me up to this." _"I thought he warned you. I thought he told you to stay away from Mesogog. It was only until you got worse that he probably even considered Mesogog as an option." _"Are you telling me to forgive him?" _"It's your choice. Is it going to make a difference with your job performance? You already swore your allegiance. Are you prepared to turn against Mesogog?"_ "Well He still has part of my Dino Gem, so I guess that's not an option." _"Do you really think it's wise to not have Mercer as an ally?"_ "So I should forgive him?" _"I don't know who better understands you than him. I honestly think he's working for Mesogog to protect you." _"Hmmm, I didn't think of that. Protecting me, huh? Jeez then why did it take him so long to get me out of the Punishment Chamber…because Mesogog was still there, He _gave_ Anton permission to release me." Erica got up out of bed and stretched, she could still feel the electricity running through her body. "How the hell did Mesogog find out though? If Elsa and Zeltrax did lose the Dino Gems I doubt they would've told Mesogog anything." _"Are you sure?"_ "They knew if they collected the Dino Gems they would be rewarded, if they collected and then lost them, they'd be punished. No, I don't think they would've told Mesogog anything." _"So, how did He find out?" _"I'll make sure to ask Mercer about that when I get down stairs."

When Erica was coming downstairs she heard Anton's voice, "We're in the study." _"I guess that's where I'm wanted…"_ Erica went into the study where she saw Anton and Trent sitting on opposite sides of the room, "So who do I sit next to?" "Don't worry. Trent's leaving now." "I am?" "Yes, unless you want to tell Erica what happened?" "What happened?" "Yes, what we _discussed _yesterday." "Discussed…"_ "He wants me to tell Erica what I told him yesterday that I…." _Trent smiled, "I can tell her later. I think your discussion is more important anyway." Trent got up and was leaving. Erica and Trent exchange a look, _"Trent what are you not telling me?"_ After Trent left the room, "Erica lock the door, I don't want Trent to listen in." "Ummm, okay?" Erica locked the door. "Take a seat; we…have a lot to discuss." _"I guess it wasn't a dream then…._" Erica sat down; there was an awkward silence between them. "Where do you want to start?" Anton asked. "I guess…I thought you told me you were not working for Him…and yet you were in His lab." Anton was taken aback by Erica's statement, _"Did she really not put the pieces together or is she in denial?" _"Erica…" "You told me you weren't working with Him!" "That was before…" "Before what?" "Before you started losing control over your Dino Gem. When I told you I wasn't working for Mesogog at that time, I wasn't. Then you got worse and I had to make a deal…" "So there was a backroom deal for Mesogog to help me…" "Mesogog doesn't do anything except when it helps Him." "So, you agreed to work for Him if he agreed to help me, and I ended up making a deal with Him." "Yeah…that sums it up." "So everything I've told you, how much got back to Him?" Anton made a heavy sigh, "Erica…" "So I'm going to take that as in everything." "Let's just say it's very hard to convince Him how loyal you are to the cause, the more I tell Him the less likely he'll think you'll become disloyal." "Uh-huh….is he just as willing to share information about me to you?" "Like what?" "Like who ratted us out?" Anton tried to open his mouth but his words failed him. He stood up and walked towards the window. "Well," said Erica getting up, "I'm glad we had this talk. Everything's clearing up rather nicely. When you're _really _ready to talk, let me know." Erica unlocked the door and was leaving the room, _Why aren't you going to ask Anton what you really want to know. "You want me to ask him if he is Mesogog or just working for Him?" I thought you wanted to know the truth? "I do but he doesn't want to tell me anything."_ Erica closed the door behind her. She looked in the kitchen and saw Trent drinking something, she whispered to herself, "What if he's protecting someone?" Trent saw Erica look at him, he smiled but she bolted out the house, "Erica!" he screamed hoping to call her back. Trent went into the study, "What did you tell her?" Anton turned around form the window, "I didn't tell her anything, I didn't tell her that her twin brother ratted her out to her boss. I just couldn't." "So instead of saying 'I don't know' you don't say anything?" Anton shrugged. Trent leaned back against the door, "She knew you knew something…why would you not tell her anything…because you're protecting someone….she looks to me…who could you be protecting more than me." "Do you feel better equipped to talk to her, to fill each other in?" "You sure she won't kill me?" Anton smirked, "I don't think you, as long as you convince her that the only way she's going to know the truth is through you, I don't see why she'd kill you."

Two Hours later (at the Eide household)

*knock knock*

"Steven, can you get that?" asked Angela from the study. "No, my phone's ringing." "So, I thought your generation can multitask?" "I can answer a phone while answering the door but I can't locate my phone and talk on my phone while opening the door." "What good is multitasking if you can't do-"

*Knock knock*

"Never mind, I'll answer it." Angela opens the door and a delivery guy in military uniform is at the door, "Umm I have a crate of….kitchen utensils for Dr. Roberts." "Thank you, where do I sign?" As she as signing she heard Steven coming out of his room. "No she's not with me. Do you want me to help you find her…Alright if you say so….She might be on South Beach, where all the coves are…Yeah the ones the police and the coast guards warn us not to enter during high tide cause they flood …Alright man, call be back when you find her I need to know if our date still on, bye." Steven quickly hung up his phone. The delivery guy dragged in the large crate into the living room across form where Steven sat down. "Can I ask what kind of… kitchen utensils you need that come from Japan?" asked the delivery guy. "I'm putting in a hibachi grill and the best come from Japan." "Uh-huh," says the delivery guy said unconvinced, "See ya around." "Bye," said Angela closing the door. When she turned around she saw Steven approaching the box with a crowbar in his hand. "It's not a hibachi grill, Steven." "What, then why would you tell the delivery guy that?" "Is that not a reasonable answer?" "And you had my hopes up." "Steven, 'kitchen utensils' is military code for do not open under pain of death. Now hand me that crowbar." Steven handed over the crowbar, as Angela was prying open the crate, "So what happened to Erica?" "Trent's looking for her and he thought she'd be here." "I wonder what made him think that." "Funny. I wonder why Trent _is _looking for her." "Why not?" "I mean does he want to talk to her?" "About what?" "Unless…how he'd find out. No…why would _they_ tell him….unless he in on it." "Steven what _are_ you talking about." "I told on her." "You what?" "I told them about Erica…and now Trent knows…he has to." "You're sounding paranoid." "Why the hell did I open my mouth?" "Okay why don't you take me down memory lane, change whatever details you need to." Steven lay down on the couch, "Okay good guys/bad guys. Erica on the bad guys side, okay? Erica knows who the good guys are but they don't know who she is until…" Angela popped open the crate, "You didn't…." "I told them." "So…you ratted out your girlfriend to the good guys…the same guys she fighting against…right?" "Yeah?" "Guess who's not winning 'Best Boyfriend of the Year Award'…" "They can help her…more than I can…" "Why do you say that?" "I'm not as strong as they are." "And what do _the good guys have _that you don't?" "Power." "Power? Seriously? What kind of power?" "Just the kind of power Erica and the good guys have…if I had a sliver of it, I can save her…" "Uh-huh…" said Angela as she got on her knees and started laughing. "What the hell's so funny?" "Do you want to know what's in this crate?" "It's not a hibachi grill…" "No…it's Power." Steven got off the couch and pushed off the lid to the crate. "Mom…" "You're dad sends his best…Do you think you can save her with this?" "I'd better try at least."

At South Beach in one of the coves….

Erica was pacing back and forth inside one the cove where she hid Chomper. "Erica you need to calm down; your jut being paranoid." "Am I? I don't think so." "What makes you so sure that Trent is in on this conspiracy?" "Anton and Trent were talking before I came in the room, Anton wanted Trent to tell me something but Trent wouldn't…I think Anton wanted Trent to tell me his 'secret' so we can have the talk." "But Trent didn't say anything." "So Anton couldn't say anything either because he didn't want to be the one who revealed Trent's secret…" "He wanted everyone on the same page." "But what could Trent's secret be…? Unless…" "You think Trent in on this, like what…working for Mesogog behind the scenes or something?" "I don't know…all I know now is that I can't trust either of them right now…" "Well at least you have Steven…." "Dammit! I got a date tomorrow…I almost forgot." "If you can't trust your family at least trust the guy you like….or love." "Shut up….I can't dump this on him; I can't get him involved in this…" "Mesogog might go after him...?" "Worst case scenario…I might lose him…."

"ERICCCAAA!" *Both Chomper and Erica were surprised at the same time* Erica peeked outside of the cove, she saw Trent walking down the beach carrying two ice cream cones. "ERICCAA?!" he screamed again.

"Mother-" she whispered before entering the cove again. She pointed to Chomper, "You, hide." "He's your brother, _you hide_!" "Chomper, I don't know if Trent's a friend, a foe, or an innocent bystander, you need to stay hidden until I need you in battle…please." Chomper looked at her for about a minute before sinking into the bay. "Okay now that's settled…"

Trent was looking up and down the beach looking for Erica, "I thought Steven would know the best place she'd hide…I should've confirmed her location before buying these ice creams…they're starting to melt.." Suddenly he saw someone exit one of the coves; it was Erica. He saw her walking towards him with a scowl. "Hmm maybe this wasn't the best plan…" Before he could retreat she ran up to him and grabbed one of the cones from him. "So I have never seen blue ice cream before…" she said. "It's a specialty…" "What's it called?" "Sea-salt ice-cream." "Like from the video game?" "No from the comic book!" Tent replied sarcastically. Erica smiled. "I, umm…" started Trent, "You ran out of the house…rather…abruptly." 'Yeah, so?" "After looking at me." "Uh-huh, so?" Erica licked her ice-cream, "Ugh…it tastes weird." "What do you think sea-salt taste like, sweet?" "It's both…its weird." "Ha…Listen Erica, I think we need to talk." "Okay, about what? "About everything."

About an hour later….

"Well, did I answer everything?" asked Trent. Erica and him were sitting on the rocks watching high tide come up but Erica was silent. "I know this is a lot to take in…" Erica just got up from the rocks and started walking away from Trent, "Whoa, wait up." He said trying to follow her. "I'm such an idiot, I spilled my guts to him. And he's reporting it to my boss! Why the hell was I in such denial, I should've seen it!" "You didn't want to be totally alone." Erica turned around to see Trent. "When I went on my 'evil' rampage…I think I did it because I didn't have anyone on my side, I didn't have anyone to tell me 'You're doing something bad, you're working for the bad guys…'" "I'm pretty sure the Rangers were telling you that the entire time." "Yeah but they were just classmates they weren't…like weren't someone I was close to, like you." "You didn't tell me anything either." "I didn't want you involved. Isn't that why you didn't tell me your secret, to protect me?" "Yeah," said Erica. "Are we going to talk to Dad?" asked Trent. "I'm not." "Why?" "He's already knows what we're going to talk about right, what could he add?" "Maybe an explanation as to why he didn't tell you anything in the first place?" "Second place. When you were going through this, he didn't have a chat with you did he?" "No." "Trent, he had his chance and he blew it. He blew it with you and he blew it with me." Erica started shivering, "It's getting late we should head back."

End of Chapter 17

FINALLY AN UPDATE! So yeah, I'm sorry this chapter took so long I was trying to figure out where my story is going and now I have a plan! I will try to do a better job of updating my chapter from now on. Thank you for all my LOYAL fans and my NEW fans that are reading this. I think I would have quit writing if it wasn't for your support.

AllOtaku92


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: I DO NOT own Power Rangers that credit goes to the Gods of Saban but this story is mine, I just borrowed their characters (and the main story line) and added some of my own thoughts to it.**

**-The Pink Gem**

**Chapter Nineteen**

Later that night….

Anton came into the kitchen and opened the fridge, "Can't sleep?" Erica was sitting at the counter stirring a straw in an empty cup. "Just thinking." "About your talk with Trent?" "I just don't buy it." "Well, I _am _Mesogog so he wasn't lying about that…" "So he doesn't know that I'm the Pink Ranger on Thursday, proceeds to rat me out, wait until Friday when I'm being punished and then has his _discovery_ that I'm the Pink Ranger?" "He didn't tell you how he found out?" "He just said 'I know you're the Pink Ranger, just so you know I'm the White one.' Then he proceeds to tell me about the other Rangers, which I didn't need to know!" "Because you figured it out?" "I already saw Kira and Ethan! I demorphed McKnight….the only real surprise was Trent and Dr. O…." "Uh-huh…" said Anton as he poured some milk into a pot and turned on the heat." "I've been careful to make sure my identity wouldn't be compromised, so when did Trent _really _find out?" "On Friday?" "I could've sworn Kira and Ethan were knocked out…" "You sure no one could've caught a glimpse? Do you remember anyone that could've seen you?" "What the hell are you getting at?" "Just answer the question." Something finally clicked because Erica remembered that there _was _someone there…

"_What happened? Two little Rangers weren't enough for you that you go off on some civilian?"_

"Someone was there…." "Yeah…" "And yet my identity isn't compromised." "Which mean?" "They don't know me, they didn't have film…." "And yet, your brother found out? How?"

*CRASH*

Trent sprung himself awake, "Jeez, Dad said she'd go off like a time bomb but how many time bombs go off twice in one day?" Erica was standing up, her hand was still extended from throwing her cup across the room. "You're gonna have to get yourself a new cup if you want some of this milk. "No…no damn way it was Him…no way…." "You wanna go ask your brother? I thought he would've told you." "He didn't." "Do you two mind not doing this…it way too late (or early) for this." Trent was walking toward the kitchen when Erica gave him a cold stare that made him freeze. "Who told you?" she asked. "Who told me…what?" replied Trent. "Don't play that game Trent, she is right now ready to kill you," said Anton as he was pouring something into a cup, "And for the record my money is on your sister." Trent shrugged, "Steven." "You're lying." "Hey, he's the one who pulled Conner, Ethan, and Kira outta lunch to tell them about you. Heh, he wanted them to save you." "And their response?" "They'd think about it." "Hmm, figures," said Erica as she back down. "I thought you had this talk before," said Anton. "No, we focus that discussion on how much info I should be giving my boss," said Erica as she looked at Anton, "which is nothing." Erica grabbed the cup of warm milk from Anton and drank it down. Erica left the kitchen and brushed past Trent as she went upstairs. "So you really didn't tell her about Steven?" Anton asked Trent. "No, I figured they would have that talk during their 'date' later today." Erica came down stairs and was leaving through the front door. "Where do you think you're going this time at night?" asked Anton. "I'm going out, Anton," said Erica as she closed the door. Anton made a heavy sigh, "I really hope she waits until tomorrow before confronting him." "Does it make a difference between today and tomorrow?" "Time can sometimes make all the difference Trent. So, what _did_ you two talk about?" "Erica had a feeling you and Mesogog were one in the same, but Erica didn't buy the fact that you're the one who told her to freeze the Yellow Ranger and kill the Red Ranger." "It wasn't like it was _my _idea." "But you still went along with it. I didn't know you even set up Kira to give Erica a meeting with Mesogog." "That was the mutant….Copy That," "I figured that out, but Erica thought she was the real deal. You didn't even give the Rangers a chance to help her! If they ever approached her, Erica would have probably freaked out seeing the girl that 'tried' to kill her." "That was His plan." "And it worked beautifully; I really hope you're proud of yourself." "I'm not, but He is."

"So Mesogog set you up from the beginning?" "That's what it looks like. I swear I was ready to just push Trent off that cliff, but I just pulled back. I mean he sounded like he was honest; I've seen Kira at school, she doesn't look like a murderer. But, then again, look at me…" "So Mesogog sent a fake Kira after you, Elsa destroys it and you end up on Mesogog's team, and if the Ranger even wanted you on their side…" "I wouldn't joined 'cause the 'Yellow Ranger' tried to kill me." "Are you going to confront Him?" "Mesogog? I just got out of the Punishment Chamber a few hours ago; I'm not looking forward to going back in." "Are you confronting Steven?" "I have to, if He believes Steven to be a threat…" "He'll try to eliminate him. He's a liability." "Unless I can show that he won't be a threat to the cause." "How do you plan on doing that?"

The Next Day….

Steven drove up outside Mercer's house, as he got out the car and shut the door he banged his morpher against the door. "I can't believe I have to wear this stupid thing to unlock that power. Geez, this thing must weigh a couple of pounds…" Steven murmured to himself. He walked up to the front door and knocked three times and Erica came out after a few seconds. As Erica was walking up to the car she asked, "So where are we going?" "It's a secret." "_Fine_. Be that way," she said. As Steven was driving Erica noticed the 'machine' that was on his arm, "So, what's that bulky thing on your arm?" "Blood Pressure Monitor. Doctor says I need to get my BP down." "Uh-huh, so in the 21st century they don't have anything smaller for checking blood pressure?" asked Erica unconvinced. "I guess not. So, you ran away yesterday?" "No, I just wanted to Not be found." "Ohhh, I would like a heads up the next time you don't want to be found." "Noted. So where are we going?" "There's a new boardwalk amusement park that just opened up, so I figured I'd take you there." "Sounds fun."

At the boardwalk….

"Want some ice cream?" Steven asked. "Sure." "I'll be right back." Erica leaned against the railing on the boardwalk. "I thought he would have mentioned something about now." _"Do you think this is an easy topic for him to discuss?"_ "No, but the suspense is killing me." "Here," he said holding out a blue ice cream cone. "Thanks," said Erica as she took it, "Is this-" Erica took a lick which sent shivers down her spine, "Sea-Salt…" "Uh-huh." "Does this city have any other ice cream flavors than Sea-Salt?" "Sea-Salt is a West Side specialty, if you want the regular flavors like chocolate or vanilla you need to go to the East Side." Erica let out a heavy sigh. "You okay?" "No…the suspense is killing me." Steven leaned back against the railing, "They told you?" "Yeah." "Erica-"

Suddenly a swarm of Tyrannodrones came running towards Steven and Erica. Steven took up a defensive position "Let me handle them!" he said as he was about to tap his morpher. Erica grabbed him by his collar, "Don't bother, let's go." She said as she jumped over the railing onto the beach. Steven let go of his morpher and jumped over the railing behind her. As Steven was following Erica, "Why did you stop me? I could've kicked their asses!" Erica turned around while she was running, "You can barely handle your own with one mutant and you think you can handle a swarm of Tyrannodrones! Ha!" "Fine then, don't believe me. Do you at least have any idea why they are after us?" "They're probably after you." "Oh, why do you say that?" "Because you magically found out your girlfriend's secret and they need to tie up some loose ends." "Oh..." said Steven. He stopped running as soon as he reached the shore, but Erica just ran into the water. He turned around and saw the Tyrannodrones were getting closer, "All right, I'll just hold them off until-" A blast of water was shot out next to him and hit the Tyrannodrones. Steven turned around to see Erica holding a frozen water ball in her hand. "Now step forward and push the water out." A beam of water shot of her hands and Steven saw where the water was coming from, "She's bringing the water together and shooting it out in a condensed blast…" After a minute Erica relinquished the attack, Steven back around to see the Tyrannodrones were frozen solid. "Whoa…" he murmured. "Are you okay?" said Erica holding out her hand. "Yeah…I think so." "Alright, take my hand then." "Why?" "We need to get out of here, now. Take my hand." "Can't I just…follow you?" "Not where we're going." "Okay," said Steven as he took her hand, "I trust you." Suddenly Erica pulled Steven underwater but they were falling so fast he didn't have any time to resist. When they reached the bottom of what Steven assumed to be the ocean floor, he tried to swim upwards but Erica who still held his hand pulled him down again and said, "You don't wanna do that. My Dino Gem is the only thing that preventing gravity from crushing you right now. I _really_ recommend you stay close to me." "So long as I hold your hand…" "You'll be able to breathe down here. Follow," Erica said as she started walking tugging Steven behind her. "This is pretty weird; I don't think I've ever done something like this before." "You think I have, I didn't think this would work on you." "So why you'd try it? You could've gotten me killed!" "And what? Those Tyrannodrones were gonna hand you a bouquet of flowers?" "They could've been after _you_." "First off, If my boss needed me, He would have contacted me. Second, you are a liability now so my boss is looking for you." "Are you gonna get in trouble for this…helping me get away?" "Maybe." "Sorry." "Don't be. I could've let them _have _you, I have that choice, and I didn't take it. Alright here we go." In front of them was a gigantic rock about 500 feet tall and twice as long. "So is this a cave or something?" Erica walked up to it and started pounding on it. "Have you tried a password, Open Sesame, maybe?" Suddenly the ground starting shaking in which Erica tighten her grip on Steven, while he was saying, "Ooohh mmmyy Gooodd, Iiii caannn'ttt bbbeliieeve iit workked!" Steven saw the rock opening but along the edges revealed a row of sharp rocks, "Whhhaaatt kkiind ooff rooock iiiss tthhat?" "It's not a rock, you ding-dong; It's Chomper." After the rock completely opened the earthquake subsided. It took Steven a minute to feel his legs again, "So, it didn't need a password?" "Nope," said Erica as he tossed Steven into the opening of the Chomper. "Her name is Chomper and she doesn't like you!"

"That idiot blacked out! I can't believe he thought I needed a password to open up, what am I, some stupid computer that needs a password to open?" "You can't blame him; you _did_ look like a rock in the dark!" "I can't believe you'd risk getting your ass put in the Punishment Chamber for _Him_! Not 24 hours out and you want back in!" "Oh, shut up!"

Steven opened his eyes and saw some kind of ceiling. He sat up and saw Erica, "Hey." "Hey yourself." "Who were you talking to?" "Chomper." "Uh-huh, your rock right?" _"I AM NOT A ROCK!"_ "What's that roaring it sounds like an engine?" "An engine?" _"He can't hear me, the only reason you can hear me is because we're telepathically linked." _"So he's just going to hear the sound of an engine everything you go off?" _"I guess so."_ "Okay so are you going to have these one sided conversation all day or what?" "No, now I'll have my talk with you." Erica talked walking to the bow of the ship. Steven stood up and observed his surrounding: just a big empty space with a control panel near the bow, the large window to see outside with near it and a chair in the center of the room. "Spacy, huh?" "I don't need a lot of room." Erica starting typing up something on the control panel, "All right just stay away from the mainland now, I'll let you know when to change course." "So what is Chomper? It's obviously not a rock." "It's a zord." "A zord…" "Yeah, you remember on the beach we saw two giant monsters trying to destroy the city." "I remember the Rangers fighting a monster…" "Well this is what I'm going to use to fight the Rangers with." "Why?" "Because my boss is probably going to give me the order to." "And you're just going to." "Yup." "And you don't have an issue with it." "Not yet." Erica turned around to look at him. Steven was sitting down on the chair giving her a disapproving look. "For a liability you're one to talk." "And how the hell did I become a liability?" "Gee, I wonder. You already betrayed my trust and my identity to the Rangers, what's stopping you from betraying me to Cassidy and Devin." "I wouldn't do that!" "How can I believe you when I can't even trust you?" "Because…." Steven got up from the chair and starting looking around, _"Damn it she got me trapped!"_ "You would've handed me over if you really believed I would betray you!" "Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see your reaction." "What reaction?" "If I thought you were an actual threat I would've handed you over, I didn't. Despite that fact you still don't trust me. You were just looking around for an exit because you thought I was going to do something to you." Steven sat down again, "I'm sorry." "Sure you are…" "I am!" "How sorry are you Steven? Are you sorry enough to take back the fact you went behind my back to tell my enemies my identity, for all you know those guys could've killed me!" "They wouldn't do that!" "Because you knew their identity before you confided in them, right?" "Yeah, that's right." "So, why didn't you tell me their identity, why did you tell them mine?" "I thought…you were on the wrong side." "Right…wrong…there the same thing." "No there're not! You want to destroy the city, they want to save it!" "Do you know why my boss is trying to destroy Reefside? My boss wants the Dino Gems and the Rangers won't hand them over. So, he's going to keep up these attacks until the Rangers hand them over." "That's pretty selfish of him hurting all those innocent people just to get his hand on some rocks." "How selfish are the Rangers? They're willing to let all those innocent people get hurt despite the fact that they can stop it if they give up their Dino Gems." "What is your boss going to do with the Dino Gems?" "Make the world a better place." "For who?" Erica smirked, "I didn't ask." "For all you know the Rangers would be handing over the keys to a nuclear bomb if they give up their Dino Gems!" "Or, it can cure him of an affliction he has." "I'm sure if your boss had a 'good' plan with those Dino Gems the Rangers would hand them over." "No, they wouldn't. They don't want to give up the power they grew accustomed to." "How do you know?" "The _real _reason I'm working for my boss is because my want my Dino Gem whole again." Erica tossed something at Steven. He caught it and looked at it, "It a piece of rock." "That piece of rock is half my energy source. My boss has the other half. I want to have complete control over my powers and the only way that can happen is if I work for him. Steven tossed it back over, Erica caught it, "Ask you 'new friends', ask them why they won't give up their power if it meant saving the city from my bosses' wrath? They're going to refuse because they're just as addicted to the power as I am."

Erica turned around to the console and started typing up some stuff. "Why did you sign up with him in the first place? I see why you're staying, for the power, by how did you two hook up through?" "He saved my life." "How?" "You remember when we first met how much water I was drinking?" "I remember seeing a lot of water bottles." "And how tired I used to feel?" "Yeah." "My Dino Gem activated when I came to Reefside, problem was that I wasn't strong enough to handle its power and it was weakening me every day." "And Mesogog cured you." "Yeah. Mesogog could've have let me die and could've taken my power, but He didn't." "The Rangers couldn't help you." "Mesogog found me first. If the Rangers really did care about me they would made an effort to find me, considering who they are now, they should've known something was wrong. And they didn't do anything…." "Erica." "The Rangers aren't doing the 'right thing'." "Neither is your boss. Why is your boss holding the other half of your Dino Gem hostage if he's such a 'good guy'?" "I never said he was a good guy all I said was that good and evil are the same thing." "Okay fine, he's neither, but still why is he holding you hostage? He's forcing you to stay. So long as he has the other half of your power you can't leave! I don't think you're obsessed with power, I think it's just a blood oath you're honoring and your boss is abusing it." "Uh-huh. Whatever."

"Do you know why I _really _didn't tell you first? I got attack by your partner, remember? No offense if I am going to save you I can't do it on my own." "Save me?" "Let's see…there the White Guy, then the twins: guy and girl….and then I guess that leaves your boss…I can safely say I'm outnumbered despite the new powerful weapon I have." "Powerful weapon…I don't need to hear about any of that!" said Erica putting her hands on her ears. "At least with the Ranger help the numbers are a bit more even." "To whose side?" asked Erica putting her hands down, "Now it's…5 plus 1..Six! Against…2,4, Five!" "To my side then!" "God I can't believe you!" Erica got up and started pacing around the ship.

"Erica, answer me honestly. If I did tell you first, would you have told your boss?" "No. It would have been our secret." Steven smirked, "Why?" "Because I want…no, I need someone to confide in." "What about your zord, Chomper?" "Chomper connected to me thru my Dino Gem which means…" "It is connected to your boss too," Steven smirk disappeared and made a heavy sigh, "You wanted someone safe to talk to on neither side." "I wanted to tell you everything. You weren't going to be involved, and I can get everything I want to say out of my system without repercussion." "And you can't do that now because I'm marked on the good guy's side." "Anything I say to you now, means betrayal automatically." Erica sat back down and put her head down in her hands. "Erica, I'm sorry. I only told the Rangers because I saw what your team did; I saw them almost kill _our _friends. I've seen _you_ go after them! And you wanna know something, that not something you would've done willing. I was trying to save…I _am_ trying to save you." Erica lifted her head up, "I know." Erica morpher suddenly went off, "Yeah?" It was Elsa, "Do you plan on rising back to the surface soon or do I need to send a mutant down there to drag you up." "I'll be back soon, I'm just laying down the groundwork for our future relationship." "You still plan on staying together?" "Off-hours, of course." "Uh-huh, that's either not going to work or fall apart." "And I'm going to prove you wrong." "I'll be the one proving you wrong when I'm tossing the two of you into the Punishment Chamber." "See you later Elsa." Erica cut off communication. "What's the Punishment Chamber?" "Something that would probably kill you and you would do best to avoid at all cost." "I'll keep that in mind, heh, you wanna stay together?" "Who are _you _going to confide in? Your mom that locks herself in a basement for twenty hours a day or your dad that lives in Kyoto?" "Point taken, I guess I'll confide in you, then. It's not like the Rangers like me any more than your team does." "Your new friends don't like you?" "I think they're more afraid that I might rat them out to Cassidy and Devin." "Right, those two have been looking for the Rangers for their big break." "Yeah. Oh, I forgot to mention, I think the Rangers might talk to you, you know just to, keep me happy." "And quiet. So if Dr. O pulls me out of the room during the exam Monday, I'll know who to thank. …Okay, I don't want to keep Elsa waiting so we better get back." "Before we go, can you fill me in on my new enemies, I want to be on the same page as everyone else."

The Pink Ranger entered the hideout thru the Invisa-Portal and she saw the White Ranger leaned against the wall. "What's wrong? Hiding from Elsa?" "Mesogog chewed out Zeltrax today." "Mesogog always bothers Zeltrax:_ "You've failed me again!_" "What's the difference this time?" "Mesogog told Zeltrax that he should abandon his plan 'bout going after the Black Ranger, do you know anything about it?" "No, I know Zeltrax has _some kind_ of vendetta against the Black Ranger but not specifics." "Mesogog warned Zeltrax that this was the absolute last chance to get his revenge or he'll be forced to abandon it." "One thing Mesogog can't force on us is who we can or cannot take vengeance on." "Slacking off I see?" Elsa walks into the hallway and looks at the White Ranger, "Didn't I assign a job for you to do or are you bucking to get sent to the Punishment Chamber again?" The White Ranger nodded at the Pink Ranger and walked away. As soon as he left, "What _were _you two talking about?" "Zeltrax better be successful on his next mission or else." "Or else we'll all be in trouble. Let's go." The Pink Ranger followed Elsa into an elevator where they descended deep into the island. As they were going down, the Pink Ranger saw in the cavern there was a big machine being built, "I take it that's Zeltrax's golden ticket." "It's _our_ golden ticket," said Elsa. "How is Zeltrax getting in trouble going to affect us?" "The Ranger's aren't the only ones who believe in teamwork. We'll all in this together. Mesogog attacks one of us, he attacks all of us." "You have a funny way of showing it every time you toss Zeltrax under a bus." "Who is going to protect you in the long run, him or me?" "Touché." When the elevator stopped, The Pink Ranger followed Elsa as she walked to machine. Elsa stood at the bottom and whistled. Suddenly, an elevator descended with Zeltrax on it, "I'm kinda busy here if you haven't noticed!" "Is that any way to treat someone who found you a volunteer? Fine! I'll leave the two of you alone then." Elsa left the Pink Ranger alone with Zeltrax and returned to the elevator. They both look at each other, "Volunteer, huh?" "Yup, Elsa interrupted my date so I could help you, hope you appreciate it." "It wasn't Elsa." "What?" "Mesogog gave the order to destroy him." "Well…that's not surprising…either." "We better get to work."

A few hours later, as Erica came out of the Invisi-portal at home she saw that Trent was waiting for her, "How was your date?" "Pretty much cleared the air. How did you know I'd be coming home _this _way?" "Dad suggested I should wait here for you, if you wanted to talk." "Well, I don't. See you later." Erica left the study and headed towards the stairs, but he stopped her when she was halfway up, "All right, I wanted to talk, what's your plan with Ethan tomorrow." Erica banged her head on the wall and murmured, "Dammit." "You forgot?" "No Trent, I didn't forget. I just realized that I need to get myself a P.D.A. I suppose I would just go and play it by ear." "You don't think he'll bring back up?" "It wouldn't surprise me if he did. What are they going to do, capture me?" "What are you going to do about it?" "I'll figure something out." Erica continued upstairs, _"Trent was probably assuming I_ _would bring back up tomorrow, but I'm not. Initially we were going to study…If he does need help for the test, I should help him despite this line that separates us." _Erica went into her room and layed down on the bed, "How can this day get any more exciting?" "What did Elsa want?" Erica sat up to see Anton leaned against the doorway; Erica looked up towards the ceiling, "I said exciting." Erica looked at Anton, "I don't remember." "Is that so? Did you get the job done?" "It's….a working process." "Which means what exactly?" "I can do everything in my power…and it still won't help him." "Then try another approach." "Why? It's not _my _revenge on the line…" "They didn't tell you?" "They don't tell me anything." "This project needs to be completed." "Says you." "Says Mesogog. And if you value your freedom outside the Punishment Chamber, you'll try harder." Erica put her feet on the floor, "_What_?" "You heard me." "You're lying. It's Zeltrax' on the line…" "It's everyone's, so I _really _suggest you put some effort next time you're working with him." "What the hell is He thinking…?" "He's thinking that Zeltrax will get over his obsession with the Black Ranger if there are _other _people getting hurt with this obsession of his." "Zeltrax isn't gonna stop his obsession just because we're gonna get hurt!" "Well then, I recommend you do a bang up effort to make sure Zeltrax doesn't fail." Anton closed the door behind him as he left the room. Erica got up from the bed and walked to her desk and pulled out a pen and paper and started writing. _"Battle Plans?"_ "I know what Zeltrax is doing, but I don't know what Elsa and the White Rangers' plans are. So if we were to run you do I need to be in the zord physically?" _"So long as you give me my orders telepathically I can still function." _"Okay then…."

Anton starting walking away, down the stairs when he stopped. "God, do I wish I had your powers when I was your age…" Trent reappeared next to Anton on the stairs, "Very funny…" "I've never heard of Peeping Toms that eavesdropped on conversations…" Anton brushed past Trent and continued down the stairs. "You know, she's not gonna put up with all of this for much longer…" "You lasted pretty long." "Under different circumstances." 'What is she gonna do? Hand in her resignation to Mesogog?" "Run away, maybe?" "Where is she gonna go Trent? Angela Russo is in Kenya if she didn't already leave New York." "I'm just saying…considering the insanity that in this town, _anywhere _would be better." "I know." Trent followed his dad into the kitchen and sat down at the table, "If, by any chance, she does leave she's not gonna last long outside." "What the hell does that mean?" "Two hypothetical theories: one, she takes her half of the Dino Gem. Mesogog can find her in a snap." "And probably kill her." "No, he's gonn keep her alive. We're not sure if the Dino Gem would continue working after she dies." "What?" "Alright, since the five of you have not been with your Dino Gems for very long. If you died, the Dino Gem will find another subject. With Erica, since she's been bonded to the Dino Gem for a longer period of time, we are not sure if the Gem will find another subject after she dies." "So the power would die with her." "Yeah, that's our theory so He's gonna keep her alive even if she does decide to leave." "Okay, second option?" "Second, Erica smart enough to leave the Dino Gem. Now she's gonna have to adapt to having less energy." "Energy?" "You use energy to get up, go to school, eat." "So?" "Your Dino Gem give you maybe an extra 50, 100 points more energy. Now, you have not been fused to your Dino Gem for very long, right?" "I…think I've been attached for a while…" "Compared to your sister?" "Okay fine, not very long compared to Erica." "If she leaves her Dino Gem, she gonna have to survive with less energy. Energy that she's used to having is not gonna be there anymore." "Okay, so it's gonna be a difficult transition for her." "And never mind the fact that she'll probably be spending the rest of her life on the run from Mesogog." Trent made a heavy a sigh. "Trent, your sister is not an idiot. She knows there no other option for her right now and that she's gonna have to stay here and make the best of it."

End of Chapter 19

FINALLY AN UPDATE! So yeah, I'm sorry this chapter took so long. The term is wrapping up so I should be writing more often now. Thank you for all my LOYAL fans and my NEW fans that are reading this. I think I would have quit writing if it wasn't for your support.


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